Victorious N-I-S
by pbow
Summary: A new program comes to Hollywood Arts and some will have to deal with being Nude-In-School. This is a takeoff of other websites nude in school stories. Rated T for nudity and a few foul words.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: There's a genre of stories on a few other websites dealing with students who are required to be Nude-In-School, or N-I-S. Hence the title of this story. I haven't found any here on FanFiction so I thought I'd give it a shot. Most of the basics for 'The Program', as it's called, are explained in the first chapter, and so are the differences in this one compared to the other 'Program' stories out there. The others are extremely pornographic and demeaning toward the fairer sex, and I wanted to do a much tamer version for this site.

To make this story work properly, Jade and Beck are still dating at the beginning while Tori and Jade have bonded a little after the stage fighting incident and their forced 'Playdate', so they're more friendly toward each other. (Otherwise Jade would be totally OOC here.)

Disclaimer: I don't own the character from the Nickelodeon TV series **Victorious** and receive no monetary compensation for this tiny tale, only your feedback if you want to give it.

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Victorious N-I-S

Chapter 1

Xxxxxx

"I'm bored," Jade West angrily huffed as the normal group of six teens (and one ventriloquist mannequin) sat at their usual table in the Asphalt Cafe, just outside of the Hollywood Arts High School. They were surrounded by all of the other students that went to the performance arts school so the area was a bit crowded, just like when they had a Full Moon Jam or one of the other get-togethers held there.

Rex Powers, the puppet, chided, "Jade, you're always bored, so what's different about today?"

The Goth teen glared at the puppet for only a second before she reached over, ripped off Rex's left arm and casually dropped it to the ground, saying, "I guess not much." A triumphant smirk graced her face in satisfaction.

Cat Valentine glanced around the throng of teens and innocently asked, "Does anybody know why we were all told to meet out here before classes start?"

André Harris shrugged his shoulders and answered, "No, Cat. The only thing I heard is Principal Helen wants to make an announcement concerning the school."

After Robbie Shapiro had picked up and reattached Rex's arm. he said, "I heard someone say it has something to do with a new program here at school."

The petite teen with hair the color of a red velvet cupcake turned to Tori Vega and begged, "Tori, have you heard anything about what's going on?"

Not glancing up from the notebook she was scribbling in, the half Latino crossed out a line she'd just written and muttered, "No Cat. I've been concentrating on writing this song. I got the music down but I want to make sure the lyrics are perfect and I need to get it finished by Wednesday, two days from now, when I'm supposed to preform it in class. I wanna get it done now so I have a few days to practice." She quickly returned to her writing, occasionally changing a word here or there and humming to herself.

"Don't worry about it, Cat," Beck Oliver, the six member of the group (not counting Rex) said with a condescending pat to the redhead's shoulder with his free hand. His other hand was firmly around the waist of his girlfriend, Jade. "If it has anything to do with a new program, I'm sure it has to be something to help with our futures in the entertainment industry."

"Well," André smugly said, pointing up to the balcony where Principal Helen was now standing and accepting a mic from her always present, mousy blonde assistant, "we're about to find out."

Helen looked over the student body with a stern glare as she raised the microphone to talk. "Good morning students. As you may or may not have heard on the news recently, the federal, and many of the _state_ governments have relaxed or eliminated a few of the laws concerning female nudity in public. Because of that, we're going to implement a _new_ program here at Hollywood Arts. You may have heard of _The_ _Program_ before," she emphasized the name, "since it's been running in high schools and colleges in Europe, Canada and elsewhere for a few years now."

A loud murmur arose from the gathered students causing Helen to stop for ten seconds or so before she spoke again with a sly smirk. "I see some of you _have_ heard of it. For those of you who haven't, it's also called the Nude-In-School Program."

That brought about a louder response from the teens, which the principle didn't put up with this time. She sternly yelled, causing a bit of feedback from the sound system, " _Quiet down, people!_ Now, you may be wondering just why Hollywood Arts was chosen to be one of the pilot schools for this program. Well, it's simple. Some of you will become actors on the stage or in films and will haveta preform a scene in the nude, so this is a good way to get comfortable with it. Others of you will be stagehands or grips and such, and will have to deal with nude actors. And we'll _all_ haveta deal with nudity of one kind or another with the different laws that have been eliminated here in California. Now, our rules will generally be the same as the ones in Europe, but with a few minor adjustments. The teachers will go over the details of The Program in your first class today."

Just then the bell rang, signaling the students they had five minutes to get to their first class of the morning. Five teens in the group of friends started to move to the entrance before they noticed Tori was still sitting there, furiously going over the song she was writing. Cat went back to guide the totally distracted teen to Sikowitz's class.

Xxxxxx

"All right children," Sikowitz said as he held up a pile of pamphlets to his class, "I'm supposed to pass these out and tell you about The Program." He looked over the room for a second before focusing on the Goth girl and asked, "Jade, will you pass these out?"

Jade slumped back in her chair, arms crossed, and firmly grunted, "No."

Always trying to be the helpful one, Robbie jumped up and, leaving Rex sitting in the chair, said, "I'll do it."

"Of course Rob will do it," Rex chided from his seat, not moving the lower part of his mouth, or any part of his body. "He likes to kiss ass."

"Rex!" the nerdy looking boy yelped as he took the pamphlets from the teacher and started handing them out. "I'm just being helpful."

"That's not what you told me the other night," Rex countered, still not opening his mouth. "You said you wanted to get Cat or Tori or Jade alone somewhere and kiss and lick their..."

" _No!_ "

Rex was interrupted by Jade's yell after hearing her name, and also having a good idea exactly what Robbie wanted to do to her and her girl friends. She quickly stood up from her seat, stomped over to the puppet, swiftly picked it up and not so gently tossed Rex out the window. As she returned to her seat, she arrogantly brushed her hands off in satisfaction.

"Rex," Robbie yelled, shoved the rest of the pamphlets to one of the Shruggers to hand out and dashed over to the window. After retrieving his 'friend', Robbie chided, "I told you that in strictest confidence."

"Never-the-less," Sikowitz quickly stepped in before things got more out of hand. "You can read all about the program described in the pamphlet at your leisure, but I'll tell you the basics right now. Sixteen female students, four from each grade, will have to attend school for _one week_ , naked." He chagrinly noted, "Well, not _totally_ naked. The girls will be allowed to wear shoes or sandals of some sort."

Cat raised her hand and innocently asked, "Aren't you naked even if you're only wearing shoes and the rest of your body is bare?"

"No Cat," Jade spoke up. "The definition of naked is being without garments of any kind. Shoes are considered to be a garment, so if you're wearing 'em, you're technically _not_ naked." At the confused look she received from a lot of the students in the room, she explained, "You know I like to write scripts and plays and such, so I'm a bit of a wordsmith. I like to be precise with my words." When she still got a few questioning looks, she barked, "Look it up in the dictionary."

"Precisely," Sikowitz stepped in. "But for this program, footwear is allowed. We wouldn't want any of the girls to injure themselves by stepping on a rock or shard of glass or something sharp. Therefore, the definition of naked will be without clothes, but wearing some kind of footwear. Anyway, the students will also have to use a towel whenever they sit down. Again, this is for health and safety reasons.

"Now, the only thing the nude students will have to do between classes is present themselves for any reasonably asked request. _What is_ a reasonable request, you may ask? It means they must pose however they are requested _if_ anyone asks them nicely. That'll start tomorrow so the girls will have time getting used to being nude in school."

Beck spoke up, querying, "What about touching? My cousin up in Canada is in the program there and they have to allow people to touch them if asked."

Sikowitz answered, "Only if the program participant agrees to be touched; And then there's to be absolutely _no_ penetration _at_ _all."_

Jade had finally received one of the pamphlets and was skimming through it when she laughed and said, "This is a lot different than the program in Europe. I've read all about it and their program normally leads to the students masturbating and having sex in the hallways, or outside on the school lawn."

"Yes it does," Sikowitz lightly laughed before becoming seriously again. "But that because we're not as liberal with nudity and sex as a lot of the European countries are. In the future, it's hoped that the U.S. will ease up its puritanical ways and become more in line with world views on nudity and sex. This program is designed to begin that process, but it's also being implemented to prove a point: That being naked _does not_ automatically lead to having sex."

Cat innocently asked, "But if that's the case, why are there only girls in the program?"

Before the teacher could answer, Jade said with an evil smirk, "I bet it's because when a guy gets aroused, he shows it more than us girl do; And that's not fair. Don't we girls deserve to actually see what a potential boyfriend has for us to play with?"

"You're partially right, Jade," Sikowitz agreed. "Boys do show their excitement more than girls do and that's why they're exempt from the program and not allowed to go nude in public; At least for now. The government decided that only women of your species should be able to go nude so things don't get out of hand, so to speak. They want to gradually work up to having overt erections in public and at school."

Jade groused, "Well that sucks."

Beck leaned over to his girlfriend and whispered, "Yeah, that's probably the reason us guys won't be showing a hard-on soon; So you don't get a chance to _suck,_ except in private." That brought a light snorting laugh from the raven-haired beauty. She and the handsome aspiring actor hadn't gone that far in their relationship just yet. Hands had wandered a bit during their regular, fully clothed make-out sessions, but neither was comfortable enough to take that next step.

André looked up from the brochure in his hand and asked, "What's this about participants getting relief at the beginning of a class?"

"Oh that," Sikowitz said, quickly skimming through his own pamphlet in hand. "It only means that if a participant is sexually aroused, they're allowed to head to the restroom and masturbate during the first five minutes of class to relieve themselves of the sexual pressures that have built while showing themselves off." He looked directly at Jade who'd opened her mouth to say something and, anticipating her question, added, "And no, Jade. They're not allowed to ask anyone, male or female, to _help_ relieve themselves. And they _won't_ be required to use the boys restrooms like in Europe."

Cat raised her hand and, not waiting to be called on, asked, "What are the new laws that Principal Helen mentioned earlier. I haven't heard about any laws being passed."

Before the teacher could answer, a tall, thin, messy-haired blonde teen stuck his head in the doorway nearest the stage and said, "Excuse me."

Miffed by the interruption, Sikowitz turned to glare at the boy and barked, "What is it, Sinjin?"

Unfazed by the stare and tone of the teacher, the mop-haired boy announced, "Principal Helen want to see Jade, Cat and Tori in her office."

Xxxxxx

Author's Note: Yes, I know that the other stories never mention exactly where their cities are located and that some of the tales may be situated in the United States. I had them all located outside the U.S. in this story to set it apart from the others.

If you want to read any of the other tales, search for NIS and you should get quite a few hits. My favorite series is the **Donna and Crysta** stories located on two different sites. If you get the original site, you'll find it very had to navigate, but well worth it.


	2. Chapter 2

Yes, I left chapter 1 in a bit of a cliffhanger. Who, out of the three main female character will be chosen for the program? If you haven't guessed already, let's find out.

Oh yeah. Also insert standard disclaimer here. I don't own so I don't paid.

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Victorious N-I-S

Chapter 2

Xxxxxx

Jade West and Cat Valentine stood up from their chairs, picked up their backpacks and headed for the classroom door after hearing they, plus Tori Vega, had been summoned to the Principal's office. As they reached the door, Jade looked back and noticed Tori was still deep in concentration working on her song for another class. As a matter of fact, the svelte teen hadn't said a word or even looked up during Sikowitz's discussion about the new program implemented at Hollywood Arts.

Cat also saw Tori working on her song, walked over to the girl, nudged her and said, "Come on, Tori."

"What? Who?" Tori yelped as she looked up in surprise from her studious stupor and glanced around. "What's going on?"

"Principal Helen wants to talk to us," Jade blandly answered before heading out the door.

"Principal Helen wants to see me?" Tori anxiously begged in panic as she got up, grabbed her tote bag from the floor and followed Cat out the door. "Why would she want to see me? I haven't done anything wrong. Have I?"

Cat innocently answered, "I don't know what's going on. Maybe she wants us to sing something at the next Full Moon Jam. Let's go and find out." Cat, always the naive one of the group, hadn't put two and two together to realize the summons had to do with the new Program.

Jade had waited outside the door for the other two girls. When she saw Tori and Cat exiting the room, she turned, arrogantly strutted toward the offices and said, "Yeah, I highly doubt that. The next full moon isn't for a coupla weeks and I don't think they've started planning for the next jam just yet."

Jade _had_ put two and two together, so she believed she knew what was going to happen when they arrived at the principal's office.

As they approached the office, they saw two girls leaving, both naked except the shoes on their feet and a small hand towel in their hands. Tori noticed them and gasped, "What the hell? Why are they naked?"

Cat simply shrugged and said, "I guess they got into The Program."

"Program? What program?" Tori shrieked.

"Weren't you paying attention to anything this morning?" Cat queried with a giggle. The petite redhead suddenly gasped, turned to Jade and asked, "Do you think we've gotten in too? That'd be so much fun!"

"Yeah, fun," Jade blandly answered.

"What program are you talking about?" Tori nervously asked again. Actually, Tori had been in such a panic over composing her lyrics that she hadn't paid attention to a single word said around her since arriving at school that morning.

Cat snuck her hand into the large brown tote of Tori's and dug around a bit before coming out with the pamphlet. She handed it to the brunette and said, "This program." Cat had seen the Shrugger tuck the leaflet into Tori's bag when he'd tried to hand it to the half Latina and Tori continued to focus solely on her song.

Tori didn't get a chance to read much of the brochure because the three were quickly hustled into Helen's office as soon as they arrived.

Principal Helen looked up from the paperwork on her desk as Tori, Jade and Cat walked in. With a stern voice and getting right to the point, she asked, "Are you all ready to join The Program?"

Both Cat and Jade affirmed that they were but Tori let out with a distraught, "NO!"

With a suspicious raised eyebrow, the Principal queried, "And just _why_ are you _not_ ready?"

Tori held up the pamphlet and whined, "Because I don't know anything about it. I just started to read about it."

"Um hum," Helen nodded in disbelief. She questioned, "Weren't you at the assembly out in the Asphalt Cafe? Didn't your teacher tell you all about it?"

"Well," the brunette anxiously gulped before confessing, "those two things mighta happened, but I was too involved writing a song I need for one of my other classes. I guess I wasn't paying attention."

"That's no excuse, so you start The Program right now," Principal Helen firmly said. She pointed over to a row of fairly large wooden lock boxes sitting off to the side of her desk with a girl's name on each of them and stated, "All three of you are in The Program, so take off all your clothes and put them in the box with your name on it over there. You'll be able to pick up your stuff at the end of the day."

As the three teens started to undress, Tori slowly, almost mechanically due to the shock of the situation, Cat asked, "Can I do my week without shoes? I really don't want to wear them if I can't wear the rest of my clothes."

Helen raised a hand and snapped her fingers. Her mousey blonde assistant immediately dug through a pile of papers she was holding in her arms and pulled out a single sheet, handing it over to the Principal. Helen gave the paper a quick once over, then slide it across her desk toward the redhead, saying, "Only if you sign this waiver stating if you're injured, especially your feet, in any way while on school property, that the school isn't held responsible."

"Oh, kay-kay," Cat perked up at that information and immediately stepped over to sign the form. She snatched a stray pen from off the desk and giggled, "Where do I sign?"

As the assistant pointed to where Cat needed to ink her name, Helen asked Jade and Tori, "Do either of you two want to go without shoes, too?"

Jade nonchalantly answered, "Nah, I'm good," while a still shocked Tori yelped a resounding, "No!"

When all three girls were nude, except for the flat, tan strappy sandals Tori was wearing and the stiletto-heel black boots Jade had on, Helen looked the three over and said, "Now remember, you can't wear any clothes while your on school property. As soon as you arrive, you'll undress outside the doors and put your things in the boxes which will then be locked and can't be opened until after the last bell of the day. If you like, you can even leave your clothes in your vehicle in the parking lot."

Helen motioned to her assistant who handed each girl a small hand towel with the school's 'HA' logo on it before saying, "Just remember, you're suppose to sit on the towel to prevent the spread of any nasty germs and to soak up any juices that might leak from you if you get too excited. Oh, and just to let you know, the state law officially goes into effect today so you can be naked at all times if you wanna." The three girls tucked the towels into their bags. Tori briefly thought about maybe trying to wrap it around her waist but it was too small to fit, so she placed it in her tote.

Cat marveled, "You mean I can be naked anywhere in the city, like at Karaoke Dokie or Nozu?"

Jade coyly answered her question, "That's right, Cat. As a matter of fact, you can be naked anywhere in the state and don't need clothing for the rest of your life unless they change the law." The pale Goth sadly shook her head and said, "But if I decide to do that, I'm gonna need a _whole_ lotta sunblock."

"All right your three," Helen said, dismissively waving her hand as she looked back down at the paperwork in front of her, "get back to class."

As Cat, Tori and Jade exited the door, Tori anxiously glancing around to make sure no one was in the halls. Suddenly the redhead pushed past her and started running down the hall while throwing her arms in the air. She let out a joy filled laugh and yelled, "Look at me, I'm naked!"

Tori quickly shushed her, hissing, "Caaaaat, keep it down or you'll draw attention to us."

"Yeah," Jade nonchalantly huffed as she wiped the corner of her mouth with her little finger. "It not like us being naked will draw anyone's attention. Come on. We still have a half hour left of Sikowitz's class."

Jade practically strutted along the hallway, seemingly not caring she was nude while Cat excitedly bounced through the halls on the way to class, appearing to savor her clothes-free romp.

Tori on the other hand, stayed as close to the wall as she could while cautiously making her way back to the classroom, holding her tote against her chest and vaginal area to cover her nudity as much as possible.

When the three girls entered the room, a silence fell and everyone stared, wide-eyed. Even Sikowitz. All watched as Jade, Cat and Tori, who was still clutching her tote to her chest, took their seats after remembering to place the hand towels on the chair first.

Jade glanced around the room, upset with all the gawkers, and yelled, "What's the matter. Haven't you seen three naked girls before?"

"Probably not, Jade," Sikowitz said as he stepped off the stage, his ever present coconut in hand. "At least not live and in in the flesh, so to speak."

Rex suavely piped up, "And definitely none as beautiful as you three are."

"Why, thank you, Rex," Jade warmly said with a smile as she turned to the puppet. "That's the first and only decent thing that's come out of your mouth."

As the puppet opened it's mouth to speak again, Jade's countenance did a complete one-eighty and she angrily growled, "But if you say one more word, Robbie will haveta get out his repair kit to fix you."

"Jade, chill." Beck said from beside the naked Goth girl as he laid his hand on her bare arm to gain her attention and maybe calm her down a little. "I don't think Rex was going to insult you."

"Yes he was," Jade spat. She suddenly stood and jumped away from her boyfriend, yelling, "And take your hands off of me. Don't touch me!"

"What?" Beck questioned as he stood and took a step towards his girlfriend. "Can't I calm you down like I usually do?"

Jade was about to respond, but Sikowitz stepped between the two teens and answered, "No you can't, Beck. Jade is in The Program now and you can't touch her in any way, shape _or form_. _Period._ That is unless she says yes to a properly phrased, reasonable request; At least on school property."

Jade stepped up beside her teacher and coldly, smugly cooed, "And I don't want you to touch me again. _Ever."_

It took a few seconds before Beck realized exactly what Jade had meant. His face scrunched up in a curious expression as he begged, "Are you saying you want to break up with me? Why?"

Jade let out an exasperated sigh, rubbing her forehead with the palm of her hand before answering. "Beck, we just aren't made for each other. You never put up with my attitude; You constantly tell me to calm down or put me in a timeout and I get extremely jealous whenever any girl so much as looks at you. We're just not compatible so I don't think we should date any more."

Cat jumped in as she pouted and mumbled to herself aloud, "Beck never put me in a timeout, even though I occasionally deserved it." That brought a low chuckle from most everyone in the classroom who've seen how irritating her minor, out of nowhere comments can be.

Jade looked over to her friend and lightly laughed while reminding Cat, "Tori and I put a leash on you and tied you to the staircase that one time we went without phones for a week. That was like a time out."

"Oh yeah," Cat said, smiling at the memory. "Thanks." She sat back in her chair, smugly satisfied that her two girl friends had put her in a kind of time out at one time.

"Anyway," Jade said, turning her attention back to her now former boyfriend, "I'm going to be in The Program for a week and it's supposed to teach me all about my body and sexuality. I can't do that if I'm worried about you trying to control my every action or calling me out if you don't like what I'm doing. Our relationship was never healthy to begin with and I don't think it'll ever improve. We're just too set in our ways already so, I think we should break up now while we can still be friends."

Beck let out a quick exasperated breath as he thought about what Jade had just said. He tiredly scrubbed his face with both hand for a second and ran a hand through his hair before he looked up at Jade and admitted, "You're right. We never had a healthy relationship. I tried to control it, _and_ _you,_ while also letting girls flock around me. I don't know why I let them, but I did."

Jade let out a light chuckle, explaining, "It's because you're an aspiring actor, and most actors like to have their egos stroked. They crave the attention."

Sikowitz let out a light laugh before saying, "That's so true. And it's also one of my future lessons for you kids, to teach you the possible pitfalls of the profession; Things most people don't know about being an actor like dealing with the media and fans and such..." he motioned to Beck and added, "...And any personality faults that might arise due to the attention fame brings."

Before anything further could be said, Sikowitz quickly jumped back onto the small stage in the classroom, set his coconut down on the low file cabinet against the back wall, clapped his hands once and said, "Okay. Jade, Cat and Tori come up here to improvise out a little scene." As Beck sat down in his chair again the three girl moved to the stage. Tori was still clutching her tote bag tightly to her body as she stood from her chair, so the teacher barked, "Toro, leave the bag."

Cat let out a giggle and softly said to no one in particular, "Fatty tuna. Or maybe he's talking about a Spanish bull."

The svelte brunette moaned and whimpered a bit, but eventually set her tote down and quickly covered up with her hands and arms before stepping up onto the stage.

"Alright," Sikowitz said, chin in hand like he was thinking. "Your scene is, your at a nude beach and are discussing the pros and cons of being there. And... Action!"

Tori immediately groused as she anxiously glanced around the stage, "I really don't wanna be here." She wasn't completely sure in her own mind if she was acting out the given scene or talking about being nude on the stage in front of the students.

"Why not?" the perky redhead chirped as she fell to her knees and immediately acted like she was gathering armloads of sand. "It's a beautiful day out here so I'm going to build me a sand castle." She motioned her hands in front of her like she was forming walls and towers for her imaginary sculpture and started idly humming to herself.

Jade simply glared at their teacher and practically growled, "Well, I don't like the beach either, nude or other wise. I always get sunburned and I _hate_ dolphins."

Cat looked up from her work and giggled, "Then I guess you're never gonna visit Miami, Florida."

Tori, getting into the acting assignment and conversation, dropped her arms covering her torso and asked the kneeling redhead, "Do you mean because of all the sunshine they get there?"

"No. I mean because the dolphins play there."

It took a few seconds for Jade and Tori to understand just what Cat was talking about before it dawned on them. Jade said, "No, Cat. I don't mean the professional football team, I'm talking about the fish out in the ocean."

Tori looked to the raven haired beauty and snapped, "Dolphins are _mammals,_ not fish."

"Whatever," Jade nonchalantly waved off the correction. "I still hate 'em."

"Why?" Tori curiously begged. When all she got was an angry stare from Jade, she let out an exasperated sigh. She reached behind her back like she was getting something from a rear pocket (not remembering she was supposed to be naked and not have pockets back there in the first place) and held her cupped hand out to her fellow actor, saying, "Well anyway, here's some SPF nine-hundred sunblock so you won't get burned."

Jade snatched the imaginary bottle out of Tori's empty hand and pretended to slather on the gooey sunblock while asking, "So why don't you wanna be here. I thought you liked the beach."

"I do," Tori defensively yelped before she remembered she was standing naked before a class of fellow students, swiftly covered her bare body and said in embarrassment, "I just don't want anyone to see me without any clothes on."

"Why? Are you ashamed of your body?"

"Well, no," Tori tentatively said and relaxed her posture a bit, unsure exactly why she was so adverse to going naked. "I mean... I'm not fat or anything. My body looks decent enough."

"Oh," Jade over emoted, throwing her arms in the air like she'd just discovered some long lost secret. "So you're hung up on the old cliché that no one is suppose to see your naked body until you get married, and then only your husband can look."

"Welllll..."

"You know," Jade smugly said, crossing her arms defiantly, "come to think about it, you don't even own one single shirt that shows off even a teensy bit of midriff."

"I..." Tori started before she really thought about her usual wardrobe. Jade had a point. The few fancy tees and tank tops that were actually short enough to show off her belly button were always worn over another tucked in shirt. If she was just wearing a tank top, she always wore a bra under it and the shirt was tucked in and tight enough so there was no sign of any cleavage or side boob.

The lanky brunette came to one inescapable conclusion. Tori Vega dressed like a prude. Her clothes were modern and fashionable, but they were also fairly conservative.

"Yeah, you're right," Tori slumped in defeat. "But, what can I do about it?"

Sikowitz cut in, stepping up onto the stage, "You'll have to figure that out on your own because..." just then the bell rang, "... this class is over. See you all tomorrow." With that, the balding teacher swiftly grabbed his bag and coconut off of the cabinet at the back of the stage and exited out one of the window instead of the door.

"Oh phooey," Cat huffed as she stood and swiped her hands like she was ridding them of any sand on them, "I didn't get to finish my castle." She continued to swipe off her arms and legs for a few seconds before randomly perking up and adding, "Oh, I'm so sandy you should call me Sandy, like that little dog owned by that orphan girl in the movies." She let out a high pitched, "Arf," before falling into another giggle-fit.

The three Nude-In-School girls took their time gathering their things, letting the other students exit first. As they started out the door toward the next class they shared, Jade said, "You know Vega, a lotta famous actresses have done full nude scenes in major films."

"Like who?" Tori begged in confusion. "I'll admit I'm not thinking straight right now walking around school in the buff, but I can't think of any."

Jade casually walked the hall ticking off the names on her fingers as she answered, "How about major motion picture stars like Helen Hunt, Meg Ryan, Nicole Kidman, Anne Hathaway, Sissy Spacek, Brigitte Bardot, Jodie Foster..."

Cat cut in on the litany of names, chiming in, "Ooooh, I loved the movie **Nell**. Jodie was so cute and innocent in it."

Jade gently patted Cat's arm indicating that she tolerated her friend's interruption before continuing. "There's also Kate Winslet, Diane Keaton, Ursula Andress and _Dame_ Helen Mirren. She's been naked in seven or eight movies. And that's just a partial list of major stars who've done full nude scenes."

"Whoa," Tori marveled. "I guess I've never paid any attention to all of the nudity that's happened in the movies. But, why are you helping me?"

Jade stopped in her tracks, crossed her arms and stared at Tori for a brief moment before she let out a tired breath and said, "I'm helping you now because you've helped me quite a few times since you started going to school here. I guess I owe you for that so..." She swiftly regained her composure, straightened up and smirked while she started walking again, saying, "Besides, we're kinda friends now and we're in this together. You should think of this as a challenge, like the time we all stayed at Sikowitz's house overnight while trying to remain in character. We each were assigned a character we weren't comfortable with. I hated acting like Betsy Sue Goldenheart, but I had to stay in character and actually became comfortable being that person."

"Yeah, I get what you're saying. Just like you got comfortable playing Betsy Sue, I'll eventually get used to being naked after a while and not even thinking about it."

"Yeah," Jade agreed, "It's all boils down to the old saying, _form_ follows _function._ While looking nice, _form,_ is desirable in a pair of shoes, it's better to have _functional_ footwear that won't hurt your feet. Clothes are the same way. While I like to look nice in designer jeans and such, I'd rather wear something functional and comfortable, or even nothing at all." She added with a smirk, "It's the little pleasures in life that sometimes mean a lot, and I find pleasure in being naked."

"Speaking of little things," Tori tentatively asked as she looked around the hallway, noticing their redheaded friend wasn't standing beside them, "where's Cat?"

The two girls glanced around until the both saw the petite redhead sitting on one of the wooden benches along the wall of the hallway with her knees spread wide while three guys were kneeling down in front of her. She was leaning to the side, propped on one arm with her other hand spreading her lower lips wide open.

Jade and Tori quickly marched over to the scene and Jade questioned, "What are you doing, Cat?"

"Oh," the totally nude girl gasped in surprise when she noticed her two friend. "These guys wanted to see my pussy up close and I haveta do it. Right?"

"No you don't, Cat," Jade explained. "You're not supposed to do any requests until tomorrow." She angrily glared at the three boys and barked, "Get outta here. Now!"

Fearing the irate naked Goth, the three swiftly ran off.

Cat relaxed in her laid back position, but still fingered her pussy a bit as she said, "But I don't mind showing off my body. I like doing it."

"I know you do," Jade said as she grabbed Cat's wrist and brought the petite girl to her feet. The three started walking to their next class as Jade continued, "That's why you always wear those really short dresses all the time, or the short-short denim shorts with a spaghetti strap top. You're hoping to flash a little cleavage or someone will get a glimpse of your pussy."

"Exactly," Cat giggled. "That's why being totally naked is such a blast for me. I don't haveta be all coy and secretive about showing off my body."

"You get that, Vega?" the Goth girl coyly asked the svelte brunette. "Cat and I don't mind showing off our bodies, so why should you?"

"Yeah," Tori mumbled to herself under her breath. "I'm beginning to wonder that myself?"


	3. Chapter 3

Again if you're wondering, I've made Tori and Jade a little more friendly toward each other after the 'Playdate' Sikowitz sent them on and the Black Box cleanup and such. Oh yeah. And I don't own the characters.

Xxxxxx

Victorious N-I-S

Chapter 3

Xxxxxx

"Oh Maaaan!" a very naked Tori Vega groused as she tossed the salad she'd just bought from the Grub Truck (also known in some larger cities like Los Angeles as a Roach Coach) onto the Asphalt Cafe table, laid her small towel on the seat and plopped down. It was lunchtime and the rest of the gang was already sitting at their usual table. She slumped some more as she said, "I forgot all about it."

"What'cha forget, Chica?" Andre jovially begged before taking another bite of his pizza slice.

Tori popped the lid off the salad container then ripped open the small packet of dressing as she answered, "I forgot my mom is supposed to pick me up in ten or fifteen minutes to take me to the Department of Motor Vehicles so I can retake my road test to get my driver's license." She swiftly licked her thumb clean of the dressing that'd leaked onto it while dressing her lettuce salad before hitching the thumb over her shoulder at the row of locked boxes just outside the school doors and added, "And I can't get my clothes because they're locked up." She quickly dug in to her salad so she'd be finished before her mother arrived.

"What's the problem?" Cat innocently queried as she playfully tried to balance a french fry on her bare erect nipple that was sticking out a good half inch. "Helen said we're allowed to go naked anywhere in the state now. I'm sure they won't mind at the DMV." The petite girl giggled when the fry slipped from her breast and fell into her lap. She picked it up and tried again.

"I'm sure they won't, Cat, and I've kinda gotten used to being naked here at school so I don't think I'll have a problem there. But my mom doesn't know I'm in The Program and I don't know how she'll react."

"Wait," Jade cut in. She begged in disbelief, "You've _already_ gotten used to being naked? Just a few hours ago you were about to burst into flames from embarrassment."

Tori wanly smile at the Goth girl as she said, "Yeah, but our little talk really helped. I'm not sure how I'll feel about taking reasonable requests the rest of the week, but I'm kinda okay with being in the buff now."

Robbie spoke up, "But you're unsure about how your mom will react? Have you tried calling her?"

"No, I can't," Tori moaned, again slumping in defeat. "She forgot to plug her cellphone in last night and left it at home to charge this morning when she left for work."

Just then a familiar car pulled up, stopped at the edge of the Cafe and honked it's horn. Beck recognized the car and saw who was driving, turned to Tori and said, "Well, you're about to find out what your mom thinks, cause she's here."

"Just remember to toot your horn in warning before you hit any old ladies this time," Cat absently said, not looking up from her burrito, having abandoned her creative use of french fries for the moment. "I don't think turning on your blinker is enough."

"Riiiight." Tori let out an anxious breath, remembering her first attempt at getting her license. She'd accidentally clipped an elderly woman in a wheelchair while turning a corner. She had turned on her turn signal, thinking the lady would see it and not cross, but the woman obviously hadn't seen the turn signal or the car in the turn lane.

Tori stood, gathered her things and headed to the car. She could see her mother's eyes widen in surprise when Holly Vega noticed her daughter walking toward the car, then a sly smile formed.

Tori nervously laid her towel on the seat, then climbed in and said, "Thanks for picking me up, mom. I suppose you're wondering why I'm not wearing any clothes."

"Not at all, Honey," Holly said as she put the car in gear and maneuvered back out onto the street toward the DMV. "I didn't know you'd be naked today, but I did know you might be in The Program in the future."

"Wha?" Tori gasped in surprise. "You know about The Program?"

"Of course, Tori," Holy answered as she stopped at a red traffic light then turned to her daughter. "Parental permission is required for a student to take part in The Program and I was the one who signed you up for it. I thought it'd be a good way for you to grow more confidence with your body image and become more outgoing, so I enrolled you in it."

"Wow," Tori marveled in relief as she sat back in her seat and the car proceeded after the light had changed. Then a thought struck the svelte student so she asked, "Wait. Just how long have you know about The Program?"

"Oh," Holly thought aloud as she turned onto another street to make her way to the DMV parking lot a block away. "The information came about a month ago and your father and I talked about it before I signed and sent it in. That was just before David started that covert surveillance detail he's been working on."

Tori knew her LAPD Detective father had been working a case for the past three and a half weeks. David Vega would leave the house very early in the morning and arrive back home extremely late at night, which meant she hadn't seen her father at all during that time. Typical when he worked a case involving surveillance on a suspect.

But Tori had one more question nagging at her as they pulled into the parking lot. She begged, "If you knew about The Program, why didn't you tell me about it before signing me up for it?"

Mrs. Vega found a parking spot and pulled in. She put the car in park and turned off the engine before turning to her daughter to answer, "This is our way of telling you. Your father and I didn't think you'd be placed in The Program right away and wanted to sit down together with you to discuss it. We just never got the chance because of the case he's working on."

Another question jumped into Tori's head, so she asked, "Did you sign Trina up for it, too?"

Holly lightly laughed as she said, "Are you kidding? With her ego, she doesn't need The Program."

"You're right," Tori said after quickly thinking about her sister's egotistical 'diva' attitude. She lightly chuckled and added, "I'm surprised Trina didn't rip off her clothes when we all found out that the laws had changed and women aren't required to wear clothes now."

Both Vega ladies laughed at that thought for a moment before they got out of the car and entered the building, one of them naked and feeling much more at ease over the whole situation she was experiencing.

Tori made it back to school only missing half of the class that occurred after her lunch break. The teacher had already been informed about Tori's attendance-excused trip to the DMV so he simply ignore her and continued the lesson as she took her seat.

Xxxxxx

Cat was already at the clothes boxes outside the school entrance when Tori left the building after the last bell of the day. The petite redhead was at her box folding her clothes and stuffing them in her backpack as the taller teen approached. Cat looked up, spotting Tori walking toward her and gleefully asked, "So, did you pass your driving test?"

"I sure did," Tori lightly laughed as she stopped to talk to her friend before retrieving her clothes. "As a matter of fact, mom's picking me up in a few minutes to shop for the car they owe me for taking Trina along with us to Yerba." She let out a tired breath and added, "Now I won't haveta worry about catching a ride to get to school and back home every day."

"Neat," Cat enthused as she dropped her pink tennis shoes on the ground and knelt down to put them on.

Tori watched as the redhead slipped her foot into a sneaker, and curious, wondered aloud, "Um, Cat? I thought you weren't gonna wear clothes or shoes anymore."

"Oh," Cat gasped and looked down at what she was doing before looking back up at Tori. "Well, the pedals on my bike always hurt my feet whenever I rode it before without shoes so I guess I need 'em when I ride to and from school. Don't worry, though. I'll take my shoes off when I get home. I really love the feeling of walking around in the bare buff."

Tori finally noticed something a bit strange concerning the little redhead. No, not her normal flighty behavior. Tori saw that Cat had an allover tan. No tan lines. Cat's beautiful tits and vaginal area were as tanned as her arms and legs normally appeared to be when she was fully clad. Tori turned to her clothes box and started absently sorting through her stuff as she casually asked, "Cat. Why don't you have any tan lines?"

"Oh that's easy to explain," Cat happily said as she finished tying her shoelaces and stood up, excitedly bouncing on her heels. "My parents have a tanning bed at home and I use it because one time, my brother went out into our backyard without any clothes on and got a really nice tan... And it looked like fun." As if she'd just thought of something, the redhead perked up even more and gleefully squealed, "Oh-oh-oh, now we can go to the beach and get tanned all over!"

"That's true," Tori laughed at the petite girl's enthusiasm as she curiously looked over the clothing in the box.

Actually, Cat's joy of being naked all the time was kind of contagious and Tori was debating if she wanted to spend a little more time in the buff, especially since she'd had a decent day at school and the DVM while in the nude. Finally deciding to try it for the rest of the afternoon, Tori started to fold her clothes and stuffed them into her large tote. She was just putting her bra and panties into the bag when her mother walked up and asked, "Are you ready to go, Tori?"

"Yeah, mom. I'm all ready," the brown-haired teen answered and started to walk to the parking lot.

Holly quickly caught up with her daughter and curiously asked, "Aren't you going to put your clothes back on? You know you can now that your not in school."

The svelte teen actress/singer wannabe stopped at the car to casually answer, "Nah, I think I'll wait til we get home. It's such a nice day out and the light breeze feels wonderful."

"Well you and your friends really seem to be enjoying The Program." Holly laughed as she pointed to two naked girls walking out to the parking lot while casually chatting away, one pushing her pink bicycle.

Tori looked to where her mother was pointing and saw Jade and Cat walking over to Jade's car, both still in the nude. She called over to Jade, "Did Cat persuade you to remain naked, too?"

"No," the pale Goth answered. "I'm not going to wear any clothes all week. It'll drive my dad insane, he's so stoic and proper-minded. He thinks everyone in the entertainment business is stupid. I'm going over to see him right now."

Having only met the man once, Tori could understand what Jade meant about her father, but had to asked, "But don't your parents know about The Program already? Mom told me earlier that the school needed a parent's permission to enroll us."

A wicked smile graced the Goth's face as she said, "My father doesn't know anything about The Program since he and my mom are divorced and I live with mom. But like everything else concerning school, I signed the enrollment forms with _his_ name. See ya tomorrow, Vega." She waved over her shoulder and, opening the door, slipped in to her car as Cat pedaled off.

Tori could only chuckle and shake her head at Jade's casual manner regarding forging her father's signature.

Xxxxxx

Author's Notes: You might question Jade using her father's name to forge documents while living with only her mother. Who's to say she had even informed the school about the divorce? Maybe she signed herself up for Hollywood Arts using her dad's signature.

Just go with it.


	4. Chapter 4

Again a reminder, Tori and Jade are kinda friends now and I don't own any of the characters from the show, nor do I get paid for penning this drivel.

Xxxxxx

Victorious N-I-S

Chapter 4

Xxxxxx

Tori Vega proudly leaned against the front bumper of her new car as her friends checked it out. It was Tuesday morning, the second day of The Program, and they'd all (minus André who had arrived earlier to work on a song in one of the music rooms) had just arrived at school before classes started. Tori was wearing her sandals once again and a long white pocket t-shirt that ended half way down her thighs. And that was _all_ she wore.

"Nice, Vega," Jade said, almost sounding impressed with Tori's choice of vehicles, as the Goth girl walked over to stand in front of her. Jade was wearing her black combat boots today but the laces weren't tied. She also wore a black pair of gauzy, see-thru genie-style pants and an unbuttoned and wide open, dark blue and white, plaid flannel shirt with the sleeves rolled up to her elbows so her arms, back and shoulders wouldn't get sunburned. (She had brought a bottle of sunscreen for when she was outside during lunchtime but didn't need the extra protection from the sun's harmful rays inside the building where she'd be totally nude.)

"Thanks, Jade," Tori warmly replied before she was rudely interrupted by Robbie who was walking over from the back end of the car where he and Beck had been looking at a bank of batteries under the floorboard of the rear storage compartment.

"Is this one of those all electric cars?"

Before she could answer, Beck closed the rear hatch on the vehicle and said, "No, Rob, it's one of the new hybrids. It has a regular gas engine up front to help get it moving from a dead stop and also when you want to quickly accelerate to pass someone. The batteries back here are to keep the car moving on the road and for slower accelerations."

Rex spoke up from Robbie's grasp, looking toward the two naked teens, "Well, either of you can go as fast as you wanna with me, sugar-lips."

"Rex!" the nerdy teen yelped at his alter ego's obvious come-on.

"You know, Jade is right," Tori said as she pushed off the front bumper of the vehicle and walked over to Robbie. She swiftly reached out, snatched Rex's right arm and yanked it off, then dropped it on the ground. "You talk too much, Rex." With that Tori walked back over to the open car door, stripped off the t-shirt and tossed it in then picked up her brown tote bag from the front seat where she'd left it. She shut the door and pressed the lock/alarm button on the key fob before proudly strutting off toward the front doors of the school.

"Aaaah, Maaaan." Rex moaned. "Not again."

Cat swiftly picked up the detached limb and handed it back to Robbie, saying to the puppet, "I guess that why your arms attaches to your body with Velcro®." She lightly laughed as she grabbed her bicycle and walked it over to the bike rack before heading to the lock boxes to drop off her bright pink sneakers for the day. (The only item of clothing she was wearing and had with her.)

As Robbie reattached Rex's arm he and Beck headed for the school, arguing the pros and cons of hybrid vehicles.

Jade let out an impressed whistle as she watched Tori purposely yank open the door and haughtily head inside. The Goth couldn't believe the changes that'd happened to Tori over the last twenty-four hours. Yesterday after being put into the Nude-In-School Program, the aspiring singer was a cowering, frightened wreck, while today Tori confidently flaunted her body.

After dropping off her pants and shirt in her lock box, Jade made her way into the school and immediately saw Cat sitting halfway up the first flight of stairs to the left of the entrance. The petite redhead was doing the splits with her legs traversing one stair step while leaning back on a higher stair with ten or twelve students, both boys and girls, gathered in front of her eying her spread pussy.

Cat noticed Jade and joyfully called out with a laugh, "Hey Jade, I'm doing a reasonable request. It's fun."

Jade answered, "Yeah, it looks like it. Just remember they can't touch you unless you agree, and no penetration."

"Kay-Kay."

Jade looked down the hallway and saw Tori standing next to her unopened locker. The only thing was, this Tori wasn't the same as the Tori Vega she'd seen outside. While the earlier girl was cool, calm, collected and confident, this Tori was none of those.

This Tori was frightened. She was backed up against the wall of lockers, her hands were hunched up next her shoulders like she was trying to avoid something on the floor and she had a scared look on her face.

Of course that may have been due to the boy standing in front of her, maliciously mauling her breasts.

Tori squeaked out, "Please stop," but the boy continued his rough handling of the girl. Gathering a little courage, the brunette reached down and tapped the guy's shoulder and meekly asked, "Could you please stop?"

Either the boy hadn't heard her, he was so into what he was doing that he didn't care to stop or he just didn't want to. It was probably the third because he leaned in and started licking one of Tori's swiftly erecting nipples.

Tori tried to cringe away but she was already forcibly pinned against the lockers and couldn't move.

Jade immediately saw red and jumped into action. She stomped over and grabbed the boy by the shoulder with one hand. She twisted him toward her and, with the other hand, grabbed the pervert between the legs, squeezing hard. Jade angrily growled, "She told you to stop _twice_ so go ahead and beg me to let go and see what I do."

The young guy howled in agony as Jade wrenched her hand around for a few more seconds, never losing her grip, before she finally let go allowing the whimpering boy to limp off and tend to his wound.

Still trembling, Tori slouched against the lockers and slowly sank to the floor as she mumbled, "Thanks Jade." Without being asked, she explained, "He said he just wanted to touch my breasts but then he grabbed me and wouldn't stop. I didn't know what to do."

Jade angrily answered, "You shoulda just kneed him in the balls. That usually stops 'em... Unless he's a masochist and enjoys pain."

Tori shakily got to her feet and opened her locker to change out the books she'd need for the morning. She nervously said, "I guess you're right. I'll remember that next time." She closed her locker and followed the Goth over to her scissors covered locker and added, "And because you helped me, I'm going to tell you about a lucrative part time job opportunity that you might like."

Jade opened her locker door and asked, "Yeah, what is it?"

"Well, after mom and I picked out my new car, the dealer, Mr. Chrysler, said he'd pay me to walk around the lot naked to draw customers in. It seems that while mom and I were looking around, ten people saw me and stopped by... And _three_ of them bought a new car."

Jade closed her locker, turned to Tori and said, "That doesn't seem too bad. But where would I fit in?"

"Well, it seems Mr. Chrysler had heard about The Program here at school and asked me to see if I could get a couple more girls in it to join me."

Jade only thought about the offer for a moment before a devious smile arose on her face. She chuckled and said, "You know, that's not a bad way to make a few bucks... But I got a better idea. Do you have his phone number?"

"Actually, I do," Tori said as she rummaged around in her tote bag for a second before coming out with a business card. She handed the card to Jade and asked, "What do you have in mind?"

Jade pulled out her cellphone and dialed before answering with a smirk, "I think I have a way to bring in even more customers _and_ show off our talents."

Xxxxxx

The school day proceeded without to much else happening. Tori, Jade and Cat, along with the other thirteen girls in The Program, had to present themselves between classes, but there weren't any other incidents where the boys who asked took advantage of the situation. It seems word of Jade's _'persuasive'_ response to Tori being mauled at the beginning of the day had gotten around. (They also found out that the perv was actually a student at Northridge High School, and had been identified and arrested for sexual assault with the help of the surveillance camera covering the hallway.)

The one incident that caused both Jade and Tori some concern was when they found a giggling Cat perched on top a water fountain in the hall with a few boys standing around watching. Water was dribbling out of the redhead's pussy as she sat with the spout firmly wedged between her lower set of lips while one of the boys pushed the button on the side that kept the water flowing.

Cat's gleeful comment of, "They asked to watch me wash myself," didn't dissuade Tori's anxious feelings that her redheaded friend may be going a bit too far in showing off her body.

After the last bell of the day sounded, the three teens piled into Jade's car and proceeded to the auto dealership, planning to return to the school afterward to retrieve Tori's car and Cat's bicycle. They also wanted to take only one vehicle because they thought the dealer's lot might be full of customers... And they were right. The place looked like it was hosting a grand opening or something. The lot was festooned with colorful banners and packed with people while upbeat music played over the loudspeakers.

They were met at the entrance to the lot by an armed security officer who directed them to the service bay area where Jade was to leave her car and keys.

Mr. Chrysler walked up to the vehicle as the three teens were getting out and jovially greeted them with a nasally Texas twang, "Why howdy, ladies. While y'all are here we'll give this here vehicle a complete mechanical check up and fluid change. It's the least we can do since you've already brought in so many customers." He motioned toward the front of the lot and the girls could see maybe two hundred or more people wandering around, looking over the cars for sale.

Mr. Chrysler ushered them over to the front of a makeshift stage and said, "Now the way I figure it, while one of you sings a coupla songs, the other two can mosey around and talk to the customers... Then you rotate."

Jade spoke up as she appraised the set up of a stage that was about four feet high, maybe five foot deep and ten feet wide with amplifiers set up on the two front corners facing the crowd. "That's what we were thinking. We'll do three solo songs each and then do one together at the end of the hour to round out the show."

"That's more than acceptable," the auto dealer agreed with a light laugh. "Now, I'll pay each of you fifty dollars for the hour you're here today, and I expect you to also be here every day for the rest of the week while y'all are in The Program. Then on Saturday and Sunday, you'll start around noon and work for four hours, doing the same show each hour, at the same rate. Is that acceptable?"

Cat gasped at the offer and excitedly begged," You mean we'll get paid to sing and meet people? And we get to be naked doing it?"

Jade answered, "That's what I told you when I asked if you want to come with me and Tori. But just remember, we're not at school so we don't have to do any reasonable request. You just need to wander around the lot and talk to anybody who approaches you."

"And just to make sure y'all aren't taken advantage of in the crowd," Mr. Chrysler solemnly cut in, pointing to three muscular looking men standing off to the side talking, "you'll each have a bodyguard close by. We don't want any trouble with somebody trying to molest or grope you while you meet 'n greet the customers."

Tori, remembering the pervert from that morning, chimed in, "Thank you for the consideration."

Jade held up a thumb drive and piece of paper with a list of songs on it and asked, "I have all of our music right here so, when do you want us to start?"

"Well let's see," Chrysler said, checking his wrist watch. "I whipped up some ads and put 'em on the local TV and radio stations that said the show would start in about ten minutes." He pointed to a guy sitting at a folding card table behind the stage that had a small sound mixing board on it and instructed, "You can give Paul over there your music. He's in charge of that part of the show."

"Oh, he's our sound engineer?" Cat questioned.

"I guess that what'cha call him," the auto dealer said with a shrug and light laugh. He motioned over to the three men to get their attention and waved them over, then said, "Well, let's get things started."

As the seven people: one auto dealership owner, three naked girls and three casually dressed but burly men, walked behind the stage, Tori glanced at the crowd and said, "I can't believe so many people came out to watch our show."

Mr. Chrysler let out a belly laugh and said, "Well, they aren't _all_ here just to watch. It's the end of the model year so we're having a clearance sale, too. My sales people are working their butts off trying to handle all of the people wanting to buy a car. That's one of the reasons why I'm paying you so much. You're just adding a _heap_ to those sales."

Jade glanced around at all of the new cars in the lot and said, "I wouldn't mind buying a new car right now. Mine is going on six years old." She clarified, "My mom bought me a used car when I got my driver's license last year and it's nice, but I'd rather have something new."

"I tell you what," Chrysler said as they reached the sound engineer's table and turned to Jade. "Instead of paying you for your time here, I'll let you pick out any car on the lot and it's yours."

Jade wickedly smiled, pointed to a new yellow sports car and said, "It's a deal if I can get one of those, but in a different color. I hate the color yellow."

"Alrighty," the dealer nodded. "What color would you prefer? I think we still have a few in candy apple red, evergreen, aspen silver and Midnight Onyx."

Jade's wicked smile grew since she immediately knew which color she wanted.

Xxxxxx

The hour simply flew by for the three teens. While one was on stage singing, the other two mingled with the customers answering the same questions over and over again. Almost everyone wanted to know why the the girls were naked. The teens were better able to explain the nude-in-school program after one of them retrieved their brochures from Jade's car. The only question they couldn't answer was when other schools in Los Angeles would begin The Program. (Luckily, there was a web address for The Program which would answer all such questions.)

After the musical portion of their obligation was complete, Cat and Tori continued to mingle while Jade completed the paperwork for her new car. When the Goth girl was finished, she led the two other overs to grab their personal things out her old vehicle and move them to her new one before driving back to school.

"Wow," Cat yawned as she absently rubbed her hand over the back seat where she was sitting, "this is _such_ a nice car."

Tori turned in the front passenger seat to look at the redhead and suggested, "Maybe you should ask Mr. Chrysler for your own car instead of getting paid. He cut the price of my new car in half after I agreed to come out and meet the customers all week."

"No, silly," the red velvet hue-haired girl lightly giggled and lazily slapped the seat next to Tori's shoulder, missing the lighter brunette's arm. "I don't need a car. I can ride my bike anywhere I need to go."

"But..." Tori started to argue before she was interrupted by Jade nudging her leg with a hand and motioning her to lean over.

When Tori was close enough, Jade whispered, "You don't want to see what happens when Cat's behind the wheel. She always gets distracted. She's a disaster waiting to happen when she drives."

"Oh," the brunette gasped in surprise before turning back to the redhead in the back seat who seemed to be a little out of it at the moment. Cat's eyes were drooping shut and head was lolling to one side like she was about to fall asleep. Tori wondered if she should just let her friend rest back there, but they were almost back at Hollywood Arts, so she loudly begged, "So Cat, if you don't want a car, what will you do with the six hundred dollars when we get paid?"

The little redhead jerked a bit and sat up straight in her seat like she'd just woken up and sleepily answered, "Well, I'll use some of it to pay off mom and dad's credit cards I had used to buy stuff from the **Sky Store** , but I also wanna fix up my bedroom. You know, make it more colorful."

Both Tori and Jade couldn't believe what Cat had just said. Both had been in the redhead's bedroom before and couldn't picture how she could make it any more colorful.

Hoping to distract Cat from her interior design ideas and keep her alert for a few minutes more, Tori slyly said, "Or maybe, you could buy two new bike pedals that won't hurt your feet."

"Do they have doze?" Cat slurred as she slowly started to lean to the side in her seat a bit like she was about to collapse.

Concerned, Tori asked, "Cat, are you okay? You don't look so well."

"Oh," Cat perked up a bit again and sat up. She slowly continued, "It's just that I'm hypno... hippo... hypoglycemic," her right hand sluggishly rose to her breasts like she was trying to grab something between them, "and since I'm not wearing any clothes anymore, I don't have no where to stash my candy."

Jade cut in on the conversation, telling Tori, "Every once in a while if she's distracted or extremely busy like today, her blood sugar level drops. If it gets too low she'll become sluggish, start to tremble and can pass out. Or worse."

"Wor-worse?"

"Yeah. If she doesn't receive treatment, it could eventually lead to seizures, or in rare circumstances... death. Since she doesn't have a bra to stash her candy in she probably hasn't had anything sugary all day today, so her sugar level is really low right now."

"Oh my gawd," Tori gasped in shock. "What can we do?"

Jade motioned to the back seat with her head and answered, "Check her backpack. See if she's carrying any candy or glucose pills in there."

Tori unbuckled her seat belt and twisted around to lean over her seat to grab Cat's book bag. She quickly unzipped it and dug around for a second before she yelled, "Aha!" and produced a long rope of red licorice from the bag and triumphantly held it aloft.

As Jade pulled her new black (sorry, I mean Midnight Onyx) sports car into the high school parking lot and parked next to Tori's vehicle, she called out over her shoulder, "Cat, would you like some candy?"

"Yea, I love candy," the redhead moaned in a lackluster voice as she reached out with both hands which were slightly shaking.

"Heeeere you go, Cat," Tori cautiously said as she placed the end of the red rope in Cat's hands and then guided them to her mouth. "Thaaaat's right. Just eeeeat it up." The redhead slowly started to chew on the red candy and softly smiled, enjoying the sweetness.

Jade got out of the car and opened the back door to check her friend. Seeing that she was going to be all right, she informed Tori, "Cat will be okay in about fifteen or twenty minutes, after the sugar is digested and enters her system."

"That's a relief," Tori exhaled. "But as long as she gonna be out of it for a while, maybe we should put her bike in the back of my car and you drive her home while I follow."

Jade agreed and, leaving the redhead in the back seat with her licorice, they managed to wrangle most of the big two-wheeler into the back storage area of Tori's car (the entire front wheel and handlebars were still sticking out) before heading off to Cat's house.

Xxxxxx

Author's Notes: If you didn't know, Ariana Grande is hypoglycemic. Maybe that's where the running gag of her always having candy stashed in her cleavage in the show came from. Maybe she does it in real live, too. Of course now that she's a pop star, she probably has a designated candy carrier in her entourage.

But I can sympathize with Ariana. I'm hyperglycemic; I get high blood sugar levels. But if they fall too low I get sluggish and my hands start to tremble.


	5. Chapter 5

Again a reminder, Tori and Jade are kinda friends now and I don't own any of the characters from the show, nor do I get paid for penning this awesome tale. (Or 'bit of tail' if you like. *groans at own pathetic pun*)

Xxxxxx

Victorious N-I-S

Chapter 5

Xxxxxx

Wednesday, Thursday and Friday passed in the same manner as Tuesday had. Cat, Jade and Tori, along with the other thirteen girls in The Program, presented themselves whenever asked between classes and the petite redhead was the most 'open' of the group.

Wednesday found Cat sliding naked down the spiral stair rail in the Asphalt Cafe for a group of boys while Thursday found her loosely tied spread-eagle to the top of one of the round metal tables during lunch outside for another group who hand fed her, but only when she wasn't laughing her head off. Friday found her collared and leashed, crawling the halls on all fours during class breaks while laughing up a storm between meowing and barking like a pet. Of course either Jade or Tori kept an eye on their friend making sure no one took advantage of the redhead. (And enjoyed their friend's outlandish escapades.)

During those days after school was out when the three were preforming at the car lot, the dealership was selling vehicles like hotcakes to the point where Mr. Chrysler had to almost continually ship in more cars daily to keep the lot filled. (And people were actually buying them before they were moved off the semi trailers.)

The owner also hired some of the other girls in The Program (at a much cheaper rate) to vacuum and wash the trade-in vehicles while naked, allowing for a much quicker turn-around time to resell them.

Tori had also come up with a plan to prevent a re-occurrence of Cat's sugar low from happening either at school or during the job at the car lot. She stuffed a small fanny pack with gumballs, licorice, Gummy Bears and other sugary treats for the redhead to either carry in her book bag or wear in school, and the pack could be carried by the bodyguard when they were at the dealership.

The three naked teens also stopped by Helen's office on Thursday morning to arrange it so some of the next week's Program girls could get the same jobs at the car lot. (At Mr. Chrysler's suggestion since the three would supposedly be clad again the next week.)

Xxxxx

On Sunday, as Tori, Jade and Cat left the stage after preforming their final number for the week, they were approached by two people they all recognized. The owner of RPX records extended his hand and laughed as he happily said, "That was a great show, ladies."

"Mr. Quincy?" Tori gasped in shock at seeing one of the top music producers in the world and his daughter walking up to them and shaking each of their hands. "Um, Hi. What are you doing here? Are you buying Hope a new car?"

Before the record producer could respond, Hope let out a disgusted grunt and waived off the idea, saying in disgust, "Me drive one of these ugly things? I wouldn't be caught dead in any of the cars on this lot."

Shawn turned to his daughter and practically cooed, "I know, sweetie. That's why I got you the Lamborghini for your birthday." He turned back to the three naked girls and told them, "No, we came to watch you preform, and..."

He was cut off again when Hope snidely opined, "It was an okay show."

Mr. Quincy once again turned to his daughter and suggested, "Now that the show is over, why don't you go sit in the limo and listen to _your_ music. You know, get this stuff out of your mind."

"That's a great idea, daddy," Hope chimed, smiling for the first time since walking over. She quickly turned and practically ran off, presumably to the record producer's limo.

Shawn let out a tired breath and said, "I apologize for her, she has no taste in music. She actually likes to listen to David Hasselhoff's stuff."

Cat put on a sour face and asked, "You're kidding, Right?" She leaned to her two friend and covertly whispered, "Who's David Hasselhoff?" Both Jade and Tori shrugged their answer, not recognizing the singer's name either.

Shawn sadly shook his head and replied, "I'm afraid not. Anyway, one of the audio engineers at RPX came here to buy a car yesterday and caught your show. He was so impressed he called me at home and told me about it, and said I should sign you up immediately." His smile broadened as he continued, "I really enjoyed your show. In fact I liked it so much, I'm going to offer the three of you a _five_ _year_ contract right now with the option to renegotiate and extend it later on."

Tori and Cat were flabbergasted, to say the least. The svelte brunette threw her fists in the air and shouted, "Woo Hoo!" while the petite, well-tanned teen let out a high pitched shriek and started jumping around like she'd just consumed a six pack of energy drinks and was on a sugar high and also wearing her Jupiter Boots, to boot.

Jade, on the other hand, simply smiled for a few seconds before a frown took over. She knew a few things stood in the way of her possible music career, one being her father who didn't approve of her ambitions. Since she was only seventeen, a minor, she'd have to get either his or her mother's signature on any contracts Mr. Quincy offered, and no matter how lucrative, her father would outright forbid it. (Not to mention challenge it in court if she tried to forge his signature.) Jade thought her mother might point out that she was still a little too young to face the challenges of musical stardom and side with her dad.

The raven-haired Goth needed a little more information to face her parents, so she said, "Thanks, Mr Quincy. But don't you usually deal with only rap and hip-hop artists?"

Tori heard what her friend had asked and, coming down from her high, said, "Hey, that's right. We sing pop music so, how would we fit in?"

The record producer simply smiled and answered, "Yes you're right. But I've been looking to expand my operation and I'd like to do that beginning with you three."

"Alright," Jade said, understanding where Shawn was coming from. When you almost dominate one market you look to other markets to increase your business. But she still needed a little clarification. "So, will we tour individually or will we preform shows like we put on here? And what about our albums?"

Mr. Quincy stroked his chin in thought for only a few seconds before he replied, "I was thinking the three of you would tour together and do gigs like today while releasing a collective album, but also put out individual albums of your own. That way all of the bases are covered. Later on, you could do your own tours if you'd like."

Both Tori and Jade nodded at the wisdom of the plan, but suddenly Tori had a question and nervously begged, "Wait a minute. You said we'd do gigs like our show here. Does that mean you want us to sing in the nude at our concerts?"

Shawn let out a light laugh and said, "That's what I was thinking. It would be a _huge_ draw. The venues would sell out in seconds."

Cat was finally coming down from her excitement and had heard the last couple of questions. She had to ask in misunderstanding, "So you're only interest in us 'cause we're naked? You didn't like our singing?"

"Oh, no no!" Mr. Quincy almost shouted to the little redhead. "You all have great voices and style. Being naked on stage would simply be a gimmick; A way to initially draw in new fans and create a unique fan base."

Of course Jade was always the wet blanket for any situation and had to remind the record producer, "You know there are still a few states that haven't repealed their laws against nudity. We won't be able to do our shows there."

Shawn let out an exasperated breath and said, "I know. We'll have to find a way around that. But don't worry, I'll work it out."

Tori had one more point to mention, so she said, "Oh, and there's one other potential problem. We're all seventeen, just juniors in high school, so we'll need our parent to sign any contracts."

Jade quickly added, "And I know my parents won't let me skip school before I get my diploma to tour the country."

"Those are some legit points," Shawn nodded. "Well, what we can do right now is book some gigs on the weekends and holidays. You know, fly you out on Friday after school, do the concerts on Friday and Saturday nights and maybe Sunday afternoon, then quickly get you home afterword. Then we can launch a major tour during the summer. As for your albums, you can work on those after school's out for the day and on the weekend when you're not doing a gig. If you fall behind or things get too hectic, I can always get you all personal tutors. I'm sure your parents would agree to that."

Tori tentatively queried, "Um, not to seem greedy or anything buuuut, what kind of salary will we be getting?"

Mr. Quincy pulled a small notebook out of his jacket, wrote down a number and showed it to the three, saying, "That'll be your base salary for the first year. You'll also receive a small percentage of the gross album and ticket sales. Of course there's always a year end bonus if you meet or exceed our projections."

"Wow," Cat marveled, slapping her cheeks with her hands in amazement. "That's a _lot_ of zeros."

"It certainly is," Tori giddily laughed. "And you said gross sales, not net?"

Quincy smiled as he said, "I treat all my performers well. If they're getting payed well then they'll work that much harder to keep the cash coming in. After all, a happy artist is a productive artist."

Jade broadly smiled since all of her questions had been answered. She was still concerned with how either of her parents will react, but she'd deal with it after she got the contract in hand. "I think we've covered all the bases. I'm in."

"Ooooo Ooooo. Me too," Cat quickly said, excitedly raising her hand.

Tori let out with a nervous laugh and said, "I guess it's unanimous."

"Great," Mr. Quincy said with a huge smile. "I'll have my legal department draw up the contracts and drop them off at school Monday morning. You all are still attending Hollywood Arts. Right?"

"That we are," Tori answered, starting to get a bit giddy again after all of her concerns had been squashed.

Shawn reached into his inside jacket pocket and pulled out some business cards. He handed one to each girl and said, "If you have any more questions or concerns, call me." He took a quick glance over his shoulder to the limo now parked in the lot and said, "I'd better get going before Hope decides to leave without me."

Jade looked up from reading the card and said, "Thanks Mr. Quincy. We'll get back to you as soon as we can after we get the contracts."

"Yeah, thank you," Cat called out with a big wave of the hand as the record exec swiftly walked back over to the limo and got in.

"Wow. A record deal," Tori giggled as the three started walking to Tori's car. "Who woulda thought?"

"Not me," Cat laughed as she pulled a piece of candy out of the small fanny pack and popped it in her mouth. She reached in again and handed one each to Jade and Tori, saying, "In celebration, here's a Gummy Bear for you, and one for you."

"Thanks, Cat," Jade softly intoned as she started to think about how to approach her parents with this shocking news. She knew this was big enough to include both her mother and father in it, especially if it would rankle her dad a bit.

Mr. Chrysler meet the girls at the car and thanked them over and over for the initial idea and for the great performances they did. Tori, Cat and Jade were more than happy to thank the owner for the opportunity, but didn't tell him exactly what that opportunity had led to. After Tori and Cat received their checks for the week's work, they got into the car and left.

On the ride to pick up her car, Jade pondered a few different scenarios that came to mind on how to present the job offer to her parents. She also wondered if it would be better to just drop the contract in her parents lap, or if she should work up to presenting it.

As Tori pulled into the supermarket parking lot a few block away from the dealership where Jade had left her new car, the raven-haired Goth came to a decision. Her father was a businessman, a very good one at that, so she'd present her case as a business proposition.

Tori and Cat had been quietly talking during the short ride so Jade wasn't surprised when her red-haired friend asked as they pulled up next to her car, "Jade? How many songs do you thing we'll have to have for our first albums? Tori thinks we should have a dozen songs ready, but I say most CDs only have seven or eight on 'em."

Jade was a little surprised that the two girls were already planning ahead for their first album but was also happy that they were taking their potential new job so seriously. She replied, "You're right, Cat. Most albums nowadays only have seven or eight songs on them, but we should probably have at least _ten_ songs ready in case Mr. Quincy doesn't like any of them."

"Oh," Cat gasped, "I didn't think of that, but it does make sense. I'll talk to André and see if he can write a few for me."

"Maybe," Tori hesitantly ventured, "we should talk to Antoni and the other music teachers to see if they could recommend any music that some of the other students have written. That way we can share our good fortune with a few of them and maybe get _their_ careers off the ground."

"That's an idea," Jade said as she opened up her door to get out. "But we should probably wait on that until we check with Mr. Quincy. He might have a stable full of writers already under contract and would want us to use their music first."

"Yeah, you're right," Tori admitted. "I guess we should just take the songs we've written and recorded ourselves to show him for now and see what he thinks."

"That's what I'm gonna do," Jade said as she stepped out of the car. She leaned back into the open door and lightly chided with a laugh, "Have fun telling your folks about all the _fun_ we've had today."

"Kay-Kay," the petite redhead chimed and waved good-bye.

"See you tomorrow," Tori happily sang.

Xxxxx

As soon as Jade got home, she immediately donned a pair of gray sweat pants and matching sweatshirt with the 'HA' Hollywood Arts logo on them. Even though she'd remained naked at home a few days this week, she didn't want to antagonize her parents, especially with what she wanted to discuss. She had called her dad on the way home and asked him to come over to the house saying she had big news. He had agreed to meet her and his ex-wife.

After returning downstairs from her room, she found both her mother and father in the living room tolerating each other by sitting in separate chairs and reading. Remembering the old saying, 'There's no time like the present', she dramatically cleared her throat while standing in the doorway to the room and said, "Mom... Dad... There's something I'd like to discuss with you."

Mrs. West marked the page she was on before setting the book off to the side and asked, "What is it, Jade?" He father simply tossed the book onto the coffee table in front of him and turned to her, indicating, at least to Jade, that he wanted to either get this over with as quickly as possible or simply leave.

While the raven-haired teen hadn't let them see any of the information about The Program when it was first announced and she had forged her father's signature to get in, she did tell them when she was accepted to it, and she also told them about her afternoon job that week.

While neither were very happy that Jade was nude in public, her father was definitely disappointed that she was preforming at the car lot while naked. He still wasn't happy with her pursuit of becoming an entertainer since he thought she could do much better in a quote- unquote, 'regular job'.

Jade walked into the room, stood in front of her parents and began, "As you know Tori, Cat and I have been singing at the car dealership this past week. Well, Shawn Quincy, the owner of RPX Records came to watch our show today and... He offered us a five year contract to sing professionally; To make records and go out on tour."

"That's... nice honey," Mrs. West offered, "but you're still in high school. Wouldn't going on tour interfere with your education?"

"No, it wouldn't," Jade retorted. "We'll work on our albums after school is over for the day and we'll only do shows on the weekends and during holiday breaks to begin with. We'll only do a major tour during the summer when school's out."

Jade's father let out a snort through his nose and chided, "So you're still interested in becoming an entertainer?"

Jade tried to quell her anger with her father's stubbornness but some of it came through loud and clear as she firmly stated, "Did you not hear me when I said it was a _five_ year contract? That alone should establish my singer career. But it will also get my foot in the door with acting and writing."

Jade went on to tell them about the lucrative yearly salary, the percentage of gross sales, the possibility of tutors if needed and all the other things she and the other two teens had discussed with Shawn. Luckily, one of her music teacher had spent an entire class period covering music royalties for record sales and other minor things like that and she told her parents about those, too. She ended her spiel with, "The entertainment business is a multi- _billion_ dollar industry and this is my chance to become part of it. You know the job market is low right now. Are you going to deny me a chance at obtaining a _lucrative_ profession?"

Mr. West simply sat there staring at nothing, contemplating all that his daughter had relayed to him for well over a minute before he sighed, "I suppose not." He turned to Jade and asked, "Do you have the contract with you? I'd like to thoroughly read it before I sign."

"No," Jade answered, "We haven't received them yet..."

Mr. West scoffed before she could continue, "So this Quincy character is just leading you on?"

"No he isn't," Jade practically hollered before she caught herself, took a deep breath and calmed down a bit. She continued, "It's not a standard contract so he has to have his legal staff draw up new ones for us because he needs to add all the things I told you about. Mr. Quincy said he'll have them delivered to the school tomorrow morning."

Mr. West looked over to his wife for a minute, almost appearing as if they were exchanging some form of nonverbal communication. Without saying a word, he then stood up, straightened his suit coat and walked out of the house.

Jade knew what was going on. Her father was letting her mother handle the rest of the discussion, even though her mom hadn't said a word since first asking about school. The teen turn to her mother and watched as Mrs. West got up out of her chair. She walk over to Jade and wrap her daughter in a hug, calmly saying, "We... _I'm_ proud of you Jade. This is a great opportunity."

Jade had to swallow down the anger welling in her stomach. Her father couldn't bring himself to congratulate her on the job since he still didn't believe in her dream, which would soon be a reality. No, he always let her mother deal with things he didn't agree with after voicing or tacitly expressing his opinion.

Jade softly replied, "Thanks, mom. I'll make you and dad proud of me."

The two women separated enough to loosely embrace each other. Mrs. West smirked and said, "Don't worry about your father. Call me as soon as you get the contract and _I'll_ come to the school, look it over and sign it."

"Thanks, mom," Jade said as she finally released the hug, turned and started for her room.

As Jade reached the doorway, her mom called out, "I'm not sure if you were very brave or totally stupid to tell your father about the contract, but I did notice you kept the superior psychological position during the discussion."

Jade turned to her mother with a questioning face, not understanding what she meant by a superior psychological position.

Mrs. West lightly laughed as she explained, "You were standing while your father was still seated. You were looking _down_ on him the whole time. That's what I meant by you having the superior psychological position."

A huge smile broke out on Jade's face as she said, "I'll have to remember that. But to answer your unasked question, I told dad about the contract to let him see that my dreams _aren't_ stupid and maybe rub it in his face a little. I'll be down in time for dinner." With that, the raven-haired Goth almost giddily ran up to her bedroom.


	6. Chapter 6

Our three girls seem to have had an opportunity dropped into their laps. Let's see what happens. Oh, and I don't own any of the characters so I'm not getting paid to sit around all day and bang my fingers on a keyboard. I guess I need a real job to pay the bills.

Xxxxxx

Victorious N-I-S

Chapter 6

Xxxxxx

Tori pulled into the spot in the school's parking lot next to Jade's new car and parked on Monday morning. As she turned off the engine, Cat came screeching to a stop between the two vehicles on her bike, hopped off, put down the kick stand and ran around the car to quickly envelop Tori in a hug as the brunette stepped out of her car.

"Hey, Tori," the totally nude redhead squealed in delight. "I see you decided to stay naked too."

"Hey, Cat," Tori laughed as finally she extricated herself from the petite girl's strong grasp. "Yeah. Mom suggested I go naked as much as possible to get used to it so when we're on tour it won't be so distracting." She looked down at her naked body. All she was wearing were her purple Converse high-tops.

"That's what my dad suggested to do when I told him about our meeting with Mr. Quincy," the redhead shouted in amazement.

Tori laughed, "I guess he didn't notice you were naked all last week." As she spoke, she notice something different about the redhead and asked, "Um, Cat? Where are your shoes? I thought you couldn't ride your bike without them."

"I don't need them, silly," Cat chortled, grabbed Tori's wrist and dragged her around the back of the car to the bike. Cat pointed to the peddles and said, "See."

The brunette could only shake her head and laugh at Cat's ingenuity. The redhead had somehow wrapped and secured a pair of white athletic socks around the metal peddles to cover the serrated surface meant to prevent foot slippage.

"Come on, Tori," Cat excitedly said as she took her friend's wrist again and started for the building. "Let's go to the Helen's office and see if our contracts came yet."

As Tori and Cat neared the double doors leading in to Hollywood Arts, they saw the Principal standing at the clothes boxes with two girls who were undressing. (Presumably two of the sixteen girls who would be in The Program this week.) Helen noticed the two naked teens walking toward her and scowled, saying, "I'm sorry but you two _can't_ be naked while _not_ on The Program. It diminishes the effects."

Cat incredulously yelled, "What's that suppose to mean?"

Tori turned to her redheaded friend and explained, "She means us being naked would be a distraction. The students would be looking at us, not at the girls in The Program this week."

"Oooooh," Cat nodded in realization. "I guess that means we gotta get dressed." She turned to the Principal of the school and admitted, "But I didn't bring any clothes with me today." She smiled and and added, Actually, I haven't put any clothes on since you had us go naked last Monday. It's so much fun."

Helen simply admonished, "Well then, I guess you have to go home and put something on."

"Wait a minute. Don't you keep your gym clothes here in your locker?" Tori suggested.

"Oh yeah, that'll work," Cat brightly said before her countenance crumbled. "But all my shoes are at home."

"That's okay," Helen said to the redhead. "I remember you were the _only_ one who signed the foot protection waiver. Right?" At Cat's nod, the Principal continued, "Well then, we'll consider you covered... but for _today onl_ y. But you'll haveta come fully clothed from now on."

"Oh phooey," the redhead huffed before she started in to the school to retrieve her gym shorts and shirt.

Helen turned to the svelte brunette and asked, "What about you?"

"Ummm," Tori pondered for a second before she remembered, "Oh, I have something in the car. I'll go get it."

As Tori started to walk back to her vehicle, Helen yelled, "Hey cheek bones. An envelop was delivered for you, the redhead and your scary friend. It's in the office."

Tori immediately realized what the Principal was talking about. The contracts were already here. With that realization she raced out to her car, grabbed the white pocket tee she had worn to school last Tuesday, slipped it on and raced back to the building.

When Tori arrived at the main office, she found Jade sitting in one of the outer office chairs skimming over her contract, along with Antoni and one of the other music teachers standing over in the corner pouring over a separate copy.

Jade looked up as Tori entered the room, wickedly smiled and teased, "What took you so long to get here, Vega?"

"Helen stopped me at the door," the lighter brunette moaned while thumbing over her shoulder. "I had to go back out to my car and put something on."

Jade lightly laughed as she motioned to the light blue, western denim shirt she was wearing as a dress and said, "Yeah, she made me button up before she'd let me in the building." She glanced out the windows of the office to the hallway and asked, "Where's Cat? Have you seen her this morning?"

"Yes, she's here," Tori lightly chuckled. "Cat arrived totally naked so Helen is making her get dressed too. She went to put on her gym shorts and shirt."

"Good," Jade enthused before she grabbed a small sheaf of papers from the desk next to her and tossed it to her friend. "Here's your contract. It looks like all the things we asked about are in there but Warren and Antoni," she motioned to the two teachers in the room, "agreed to look the contracts over to see if we missed anything."

When the two teachers heard their names, they walked over to the two girls. Antoni handed Cat's contract back to Jade and said, "The only thing we've found missing is any mention of merchandise with your likenesses on it that could be sold, like t-shirts, comic books, action figures and such."

Warren quickly added, "It might be _implied_ that it's covered under the royalties clause, but you should ask about it."

"Thanks, guys," Jade said in deep appreciation.

"No problem," Antoni said with a huge smile. "We love to see our students make it in the industry and you just made our day. Good luck with everything."

"Yeah," Warren smiled as the two started to leave the office. He added over his shoulder before closing the door, "Break a leg."

"What?" Tori anxiously yelped in shock. "Why would Warren want us to break our leg?"

Jade laughed at her friend's distress as she stood up and said, "Don't worry about it. That's an old show business tradition, to wish someone bad luck. It's supposed to ward off anything bad happening. The expression reflects a theatrical tradition in which wishing a person 'good luck' is considered bad luck."

"Oh, well, okay. That's different," Tori said in relief.

"Come on," Jade said, heading for the door. "Let's find Cat and head to class."

As the two teens left the front office, they saw Jade's mother coming in the doors. Jade called out, "Hey, Mom," and walked over to her.

"Hi, Honey," Mrs. West cooed and gave her daughter a hug. As they separated, she begged, "So you got the contract already?"

"Here it is," Jade said, handing over the small sheaf of papers. "I had two of our music teachers look it over and they only found one thing missing. There's no mention of merchandise sales."

"That's something to be concerned about," Mrs. West mumbled as she briefly scanned through the papers. "It can bring in a lot of revenue for the record company, and you if you get a piece of it."

She tidied the pages before sticking them in her attache case and smiled to her daughter. "Anyway, I know someone in our legal department that's just dying to check it over and compare it to the contracts we use. I'll call Mr. Quincy after he's done and see about adding a rider for the merchandise issue if it's not covered."

"Thanks, mom," Jade said as she looked around the empty hallway and wondering why it was empty since she hadn't heard the bell ring. "I guess we need to get to class."

"You do that," the older West chided her daughter as she turned and strode toward the outer doors. She called out over her shoulder, "I'll see you tonight."

Xxxxxx

Jade and Tori tried to sneak into Sikowitz's room but everyone stopped and stared as they entered. The bald teacher called out, "Tori, Jade. So nice of you to join us."

"Sorry, sorry," the lighter-haired brunette apologized as the two took their normal chairs. "We were doing... _something_ in the front office."

Sikowitz pointed to the petite redhead in the front row of seats and said, "Yes. Cat was just explaining a little about your after school job last week."

The small girl was clad in a tight pair of blue gym shorts and even tighter white tank top, but was still barefoot. Cat turned in her chair, lifted her bare right foot, wiggled her toes at them and said, "Hi-iii."

Jade warily asked, "What all did you tell them, Cat?"

"Oh, I just told them about singing and talking to the people at the car lot," Cat explained. She became serious and added, "I did _not_ tell them about Mr. Quincy seeing our show yesterday and him offering us a contract. I didn't think you'd want anyone to know just yet until we signed them."

"Wait," André perked up at what the petite girl had mentioned. "Are you talking about _Shawn_ Quincy? The owner of RPX Records?" That sent a quiet murmur through the room.

Jade let out a exasperated breath at Cat literally letting the 'cat' out of the bag. She _had_ hoped to keep everything quiet until they were ready to sign, at least not to jinx the deal, but since the news had just broke, she confirmed, "Yeah, that Mr. Quincy." She pulled the small sheaf of papers out of her bag and handed them to her petite friend, saying, "Here, Cat. This is your copy of the contract."

"Oh yea!" Cat cheered as she snatched the papers from Jade and quickly hugged them to her chest while giddily bouncing in her chair.

"May I see that?" Sikowitz asked before not-so-delicately snatching the contract from Cat. He swiftly paged through the papers before exclaiming, "Good Gandhi! This is for five years!? That's practically unheard of. Most new singer's contracts are only for a year or two to begin with."

André let out a light laugh and said, "That's true. But Shawn treats all of his artists really well." At the questioning looks he received from everyone, he nervously explained, "He, ah, signed me to a deal to write songs a week after me and Tori sang at Hope's birthday party."

Tori incredulously begged, "Hey, why didn't he sign me up at the same time?"

"Oh, well," André sheepishly said, "I asked him the same thing. He said he wasn't quite ready to get into pop music, but figured a coupla of his artists could convert my stuff to their style. But he told me he was gonna get back to you after his plans were finalized."

"Well alright," Tori happily exclaimed, knowing that she hadn't missed out on the earlier opportunity.

"Anyway," Sikowitz cut in on the conversation and pointed to another page of the contract. "I like this clause that states that he's also going to try to get you acting roles in movies and on TV."

"Really?" Tori giggled in giddiness as she pulled out her contract and started scanning through it. "That's fantastic!"

"Yes it is," Sikowitz said as he handed the papers back to Cat. He jumped back onto the small stage in the room and yelled, "But enough about that. Let's do a drive-by acting exercise. You're all on fire. Aaaand go."

Some of the students stated flailing their arms around while running and screaming like they were in a panic. A few students dropped to the floor and rolled to put of the flames like you're supposed to do. Others, like Tori and Jade, started yelling and patting themselves down to douse the fake fire.

Cat, on the other hand, bared her body by stripping off her shorts and shirt, threw them on the ground and started jumping up and down on them while giggling and laughing to beat the band.


	7. Chapter 7

My thanks to OneHorseShay for letting me borrow his naming and interpretation of Ruby West, Jade's mother, who is an executive at Schneider Advertising. Tho I disagree with OHS's casting of Jennifer Connolly as Jade's mom, OneHorse's stories are really riveting. (I've always pictured Adrian Barbeau as Mrs. West with her hair style and sassy personality matching that of her daughter.) You should check his stories out. I especially enjoy his Jeddie series starting with "iActually Like Mean Girls".

Xxxxxx

Victorious N-I-S

Chapter 7

Xxxxxx

Jade and Ruby West, along with David, Holly and Tori Vega and Cat, John and Marsha Valentine all nervously sat in the posh conference room at RPX Records Monday afternoon, waiting for the owner of the company to join them so they could sign the three contracts and get the girl's careers started.

Suddenly Cat let out a giggle, disturbing the silence and randomly said, "David Hasselhoff's music isn't very good."

Twenty seconds quietly ticked by before Tori finally asked, "And?"

"Oh," Cat squeaked. "I looked him up on the web last night and found out he had two shows on television. One was called Knight Rider and the other was Baywatch, but then he started a singing career." She let out with a light titter. "Practically nobody liked his music here in America so he moved to Germany where he became a big star."

"I remember that," Ruby West scoffed. "His singing was always so over-the-top, like it was the last big number of the show. His voice wasn't too bad but he always emoted way too much."

"He still does," Cat laughed as she stood up, dramatically threw her arms out to the side while arching her back and let out with a high-C, like she was singing the final note of an opera's aria. She let out a laugh as she collapsed back into the chair and said, "At least according to the coupla music videos I watched." Cat lapsed in to an occasional giggle-fit as she sat there lost in her own thoughts and played with a strand of her red locks.

David Vega leaned in to his daughter and asked, "Ah, Tori? What was that all about?"

Tori answered, "Oh, well we found out on Sunday that Hope, Mr. Quincy's daughter, loves David Hasselhoff's music and none of us had ever heard of the guy before. I guess she was curious and checked him out. Maybe I should look him up on the web, too."

"Nah, don't waste your time," Mr. Vega said, waiving off the idea. "He's not worth it."

Just then the door to the conference room opened and Shawn Quincy and one of his employees entered the room. Shawn moved to the head of the table as he apologized, "Sorry I'm late, folks. Trey Dirty was experiencing a problem and I had to straighten it out."

"That's okay, Mr. Quincy," Jade chimed in. "We understand."

The owner of RPX records settled in his chair as he smiled and warmly replied, "Please, call me Shawn. We're all gonna be friends for a long time...Hopefully." He rapped his knuckles on the table twice for luck.

"I think we will, Shawn," Ruby West said with a smug, almost evil smile. "Especially after the talk we had this afternoon." Tori immediately recognized the look on Jade's mother's face and realized just where her friend stole it from.

"Wait," Marsha Valentine said. She was sitting right next to Ruby. She motioned to the head of the table and asked, "You already talked to Mr. Quincy... I mean Shawn, today?"

"Yes, I did," Ruby answered, turning to her neighbor. "I picked up Jade's copy of the contract this morning and had a few of the legal people at work look it over..." She turned to Shawn and smirked, "...And they were very impressed... Except for the lack of a merchandising clause like we talked about." She turned back to Marsha Valentine and mentioned, "I work at Schneider Advertising and our legal department writes a lot of contracts for the artists and actors we work with."

"And I'm glad you did have it checked," Mr. Quincy said to Mrs. West. "Because of our talk, I have a new contract for each of your with the only difference being the added merchandising clause. Arron will hand those out to you now."

The assistant or legal adviser or whoever he was that was sitting next to Mr. Quincy stood up and walked around the table handing out a new contract to each of the families, saying as he went, "It was all my fault that the clause wasn't in the old contract. I've was working on two others at the time and got some of the clauses mixed up. Don't worry, though. All three contracts have been double checked. You can keep the old copy if you'd like; Make it a keepsake or something." As he returned to his chair next to Shawn, he added, "Oh, and if you want to read the merchandising clause over, it's on page three, number fifteen."

Jade leaned in to her mother as they skimmed through the papers, Cat sat between her parents while they all glanced at the contract and Holly held the sheaf between her and her daughter while David stood behind them and peered over their shoulders.

After a short two minutes, Ruby West sat up, tidied the pages and said, "I'm satisfied. It all appears to be here."

"Are you sure?" John Valentine asked, leaning around his wife to look at the West matriarch. "Not that I'm questioning your judgment but you only reread the contract for a minute or two."

"No offense taken," Ruby said to the man. "I work with a lot of contracts in my job and I poured over the first... _draft."_ She glanced over to Mr. Quincy and Arron at the head of the table and received appreciative smiles from the two, indicating they liked the term she used. She turned back to the Valentines and finished, "I didn't see any differences between the two besides that one clause."

Holy Vega straightened her small stack of papers as she said, "Well, I've only seen a couple of contracts in my line of work, but I like what I see here and I'm ready to sign."

"Then we're all in agreement," Marsha said as she opened the contract to the last page and asked, "so where do we sign?"

Aaron spoke up for his boss and said, "We need the parents to initial all of the pages at the top, then sign the last page at the bottom where it says 'Parent or Legal Guardian'."

As the adults finished initialing and signing where needed, Cat anxiously begged, "Then do we get to sign?"

"Yes you do, Cat," Quincy answered, but held up his hand to stop the petite redhead from taking the papers from her mother, "but hold off for a minute. I have a few of my video and still camera crews outside that'll shoot your signing while you're naked."

"Kay-Kay," Cat chimed as she immediately stood up and started to remove the lovely, short pink dress she was wearing while kicking off her six inch, spiked-heel, platform shoes. (She had decided to come fully dressed because she thought it was such a momentous occasion that it required her to do so.)

Jade quickly followed her petite friend in standing and taking her black shirt and skirt off. She glanced over to Tori who hadn't moved yet and asked, "Are you okay, Vega?"

"Yeah, yeah," Tori nervously answered as she arose from the table and fumbled with the back zipper of the extra short black dress with pink polka dots. (The same dress she'd worn during the final number for one of the first plays she was in at Hollywood Arts, **Uptown, Downtown**.) "It's just that I didn't think we'd have to be naked so soon."

Holly Vega saw her daughter struggle with the zipper and, exasperated at Tori's obvious stall tactics, huffed, "Here, let me help you." She turned Tori away from her and quickly undid the zipper, then chimed, "There you go, honey."

"Thanks, mom," Tori laughed in embarrassment at being caught.

"Why the nerves, Vega," Jade asked as she waited for the third member of their trio to strip. "You performed naked in front of a crowd six days in a row last week."

"Yeah but that was only a couple hundred or more people each day. I guess it's finally hitting me that we'll be singing in front of tens of thousands at each concert in a month or so."

Tori took a deep breath and finally shed her dress letting everyone in the room see that she'd gone commando. (No panties or bra.) She saw the shocked look on her father's face and incredulously begged, "What?"

"Um," David stuttered before he caught himself. "It's just that I haven't seen you naked in fourteen or fifteen years; Since the last time I gave you a bath."

Everyone got a good laugh out of that.

Mr. Quincy turned and nodded to his assistant who stood up and left the room. Right after Aaron exited the door, two video cameramen and three still photographers entered. Then Shawn asked the three girls to bring their contracts up to the head of the table and stand by him one at a time while the cameras rolled and clicked away. Each teen was individually taped and shot while they signed then shook Shawn's hand, then a group shot was done with Tori, Jade and Cat standing arm-in-arm, flanking Mr. Quincy.

As the cameras were packing up to leave, Arron came back in, gathered the three contracts and left, saying he was going to make copies for them to take home for their own personal files.

After the room cleared of all the extra people, Shawn turned to Tori and said, "Now Tori. You said earlier that you thought you'd be performing in front of an audience in a month or so. Well, that's not exactly true."

Tori begged, "What do you mean? Did you find us something in a couple of weeks?"

"No," Shawn lightly laughed. "Actually, that's why I was late to our meeting. Trey was supposed to perform at the Hollywood Bowl this Sunday and had to cancel because he injured his knee while rehearsing. He's not going to be able to play the gig so I'm putting _you_ girls in his place."

"Oh my gawd," Cat squealed in delight as pandemonium ensued in the room for a few minutes. Finally Jade calmed down, realizing the implications of the news, and hollered, "Whoa-whoa-whoa, wait a minute. You want us to put a show together in _five_ _days?_ "

"Yeah," Tori added. "We don't have a line up of songs set."

Shawn crossed his arms on the table in front of him, leaned in and said, "I thought you could use the same ones you sang at the car lot plus a few extras added. I had one of my staff do a little research on your school's website right after I signed André and she came up with a complete list of music _you three_ have done."

Mr. Quincy turned to Jade and said, "Jade, you did a great rendition of **You Don't Know Me** at a Full Moon Jam and your duet with Tori at Nozu doing **Take a Hint** was excellent."

He turned to the small redhead and said, "You, Cat, sang a great duet with Tori at Karaoke Dokie called **L.A. Boyz** and another with Jade called **Give It Up**. I also have a song called **Put Your Heart Up** that I'm sure you'll love."

"And Tori," Shawn said as he turned to the final girl of the trio. "When I saw the videos of you singing **Begging On Your Knees** and **Freak The Freak Out** I nearly died laughing. Plus, you can do a solo version of **Countdown**."

He looked around the table as he concluded, "Now, I can secure the rights to just about any song in the world, so the ones you've sung and _don't_ own are not a problem. The only slight snag as I see it is creating the final line up and practicing it for Sunday. The line up of songs is easy enough to arrange so you'll have four evenings and one whole day to practice. I _know_ you can do it."

Jade leaned onto the conference table, extending her hand so it was flat in the middle and said with a growing smile, "You've convinced me. I'm in."

Cat stood up so she could place her hand on Jade's and happily chime, "Me too. I'm in."

Tori laughed as she lightly slapped her hand atop her two friend's and almost hollered, "We're playin' the Hollywood Bowl, baby! Woo Hoo!"

As the excitement died down after a few minutes, Cat suddenly perked up, "Oh-oh-oh. Maybe we can all do **Five Fingaz To The Face** , too." She turned to Shawn Quincy and asked, "Wasn't Dr. Rhapsody on your label?"

That brought about another bout of joy and laughter.

Xxxxxx

Tori and her parents enter their house to find Trina sprawled out on the couch idly channel surfing. The older teen looked up at the threesome and asked, "Where have you guys been? School ended over an hour ago."

Tori nonchalantly answered, "Oh, no where special..." Her smile grew wide as she held up the contract and teased, "...Except maybe _Shawn Quincy's_ office to sign a _five_ _year_ _contract_ with him."

Trina practically flew off the couch and raced over to her sister, grabbed her arms and yelled, "You got a contract with RPX Records?"

"Yep," Tori arrogantly confirmed. "And Jade, Cat and I are making our debut performance at... get this... _the Hollywood_ _Bowl_."

Trina let out a frustrated screech as she angrily pushed Tori away and hollered, "Why do you get all the breaks?"

Frustrated, Tori countered, "Why can't you be happy that something good happened in this family?"

"'Cause it didn't happen to me," Trina wailed and stomped off to the staircase to the second floor.

Tori tried one last time, "Come on, Trina. You should be happy when your little sister finally gets a big break."

The older sister stopped midway up the stairs and hung her head like she was actually ashamed for the way she'd just acted, or at least like she was thinking over what Tori had said. Suddenly Trina's head snapped up with a grim expression as she growled, "No!" and continued up the stairs ending with her angrily slamming her bedroom door.

David Vega watched his eldest daughter disappear up the steps and winced at the loud bang of the door closing, hoping no damage was done to the door. He slowly shook his head and sarcastically begged to no one in particular, "I wonder if they'll ever come up with a way to surgically remove an ego?"

Holly sympathetically patted her husband's arm and replied, "I've already checked on the web, dear. They don't expect a break through for at least ten years."

"What are you guys talking about?" Tori questioned.

"Well, you may not remember, honey," Holly said, wrapping a loving arm around her daughter, "but Trina has always had an ego problem, so we sent her to a psychiatrist when she was six years old to get over her self-importance."

David continued the story. "The psychiatrist got so frustrated with not being able to help Trina that she told us it was useless: That the only way Trina would get over her self-obsession was with a lobotomy. The woman actually quit the profession because of your sister."

"A lobotomy," Tori shrieked in horror. "That's terrible..." She glanced up the staircase for a few seconds before added, "...Even if we're talking about Trina."

"Yeah," David sigh while brushing a hand through his hair. "We thought about it but decided we'd wait until a surgeon could be a little more precise in removing parts of the brain to control personality flaws and such."

"Gosh," Tori said. "Maybe I should've let Helen kick Trina out of school when we had to re-audition. Maybe that would've snapped her out of it."

The three stared up to the second floor of the house for a few seconds, thinking about what might have happened if the elder daughter had lost her spot at Hollywood Arts. David dismissively groaned, "Nah, that wouldn't have worked."

Tori agreed, "Probably not."

Holly walked toward the kitchen, saying, "I'll start dinner."

Xxxxxx

Author's Note: I hope no one took offense of my personal assessment of David Hasselhoff and his music. I remember him trying to get his singing career off the ground here in the U.S. and not getting very far before he became hugely popular in Germany. His grand, over-emotive style was never my cup 'o tea so, in my opinion, Europe can keep him.

And as a side note, I think his acting on Knight Rider and Baywatch was a bit over-the-top, too. I think it was almost soap opera-ish.


	8. Chapter 8

Things will get a bit chaotic for our three aspiring stars in this chapter. Let's see what's going to happen. And as always, I don't own and don't get payed.

Xxxxxx

Victorious N-I-S

Chapter 8

Xxxxxx

Both the six o'clock and ten o'clock news on all of the television stations in Los Angeles ran the story of Cat, Tori and Jade signing to the RPX label which caused an avalanche of calls to the three girl's houses Monday night to the point that they had to disconnect the phones for a little peace and quiet. (And of course the story was constantly mentioned on all of the radio stations throughout So Cal too which didn't help matters much.)

On Tuesday morning, Daryl, Hollywood Arts lone Security Guard, had his hands full trying to keep the reporters and camera crews off school property. All were trying to get an exclusive interview with the three teen girls.

Shawn Quincy came to the rescue when a large van pulled up to the school and he, along with six other people, got out and started to direct traffic, allowing only the students onto the lot. The news crews were herded to the far end of the parking lot and allowed a joint interview with Jade, Cat and Tori, who did it in the buff, under Principal Helen's watchful eye of course.

When the three teens finally made it into the school, things didn't proceed much better. Tori, Jade and Cat were surrounded by students who wanted to get autographs and/or take pictures with the girls.

Jade's normally nasty demeanor managed to clear the way and put an end to that situation.

Another issue that came up that morning was the fact that the school's website, The Slap dot com, had become so swamped with hits from people who wanted to learn more about the naked singers that the site had crashed sometime overnight, and the tech minded students who worked on it weren't able to bring it back online for two whole days.

Things settled down a bit during the first few class periods, especially after Helen got on the Public Address (P.A.) system* and announced that any further disruptions would lead to detention or suspension of the perpetrators. A few notes were still passed in class but they were handled by the teachers.

Excitement flared again at the end of the day when Shawn Quincy's personal limo arrived at school to whisk Jade, Cat and Tori off to the RPX studio to work on their concert and albums.

The core group of friends generally handled the situation on Tuesday better than most students. Tori, Jade and Cat tried to stick as close to each other as possible in the classes they shared. Strength in numbers and all that. André could sympathize with the trio to a certain extent and supported them as best he could. Rex threw a few jibes their way but Robbie and Rex generally tried to avoid the three teens, now fearing both Jade's _and_ Tori's wrath.

Beck was the lone man out over the situation. The Canadian heartthrob was happy for the girls and their bright looking future, but found he was becoming more and more despondent over the breakup between he and Jade at the beginning of the previous week. Beck had thought they would get back together after her nude-in-school week was up but that wasn't the case. He'd been shot down throughout the day on Monday.

When he first arrived Monday morning, he sat in his usual spot next to Jade at their table in the Asphalt Cafe, but she snubbed him and immediately got up to go inside saying she wanted to see if the courier had already arrived with their contracts.

The messenger walked past him with the delivery three minutes later.

In Sikowitz's class, Jade sat next to Tori in a totally different row from Beck, even though he had saved her a seat, and she sat between Tori and Cat at lunch.

When Beck found out that the three girls were going to meet Mr. Quincy after school Monday with their parents, he'd asked Jade if he could attend the meeting with her since it might help with his acting contract negotiations later on, and mentioned that he was practically a part of the family after dating her for close to three years.

"No," Jade firmly stated. "We're going to _sign_ the contract, not negotiate them... And you're not a part of the family any more. You're my ex and that's how I want it to stay."

"But I miss you," Beck argued, "and I want to help you with your career."

" _You_ miss me and _you_ want to help?" Jade begged, emphasizing the word 'you' each time. "This isn't about you. This is about _my_ career, and mom has some pretty good lawyers backing her up so the contract is set. I'm afraid if you came with us, your ego might make you say something to screw everything up."

"My ego?"

"Yes, your ego," Jade argued. "That overinflated thing you let girls stroke, and used to put me in timeouts like I was a four year old brat when you thought I did something wrong or went too far. You never sided with me when my " **Clowns Don't Bounce** " performance was canceled for the prome. You didn't jump in to help me when I burned my hand at Sikowitz's sleepover and you never helped me with my play " **Well Wishes** " when I couldn't put it on here and Tori went looking for backers, and also when Mrs. Lee wanted to change it. You were, quote, 'In Canada', unquote, for two of those, and a simple phone call from you could've made a difference in both cases; Especially since Helen likes you.

"So no," Jade concluded. "I don't want or _need_ your egotistical help."

Xxxxxx

Beck had watched the proceedings Tuesday morning with a wary eye. For some reason he couldn't fathom, he was bothered when the three did their interview in the buff, and he almost jumped in to berate Jade, telling her to calm down, when she yelled at the crowd of students that mobbed them as they entered the school.

When Tori quickly added, "Hey, when we're here at Hollywood Arts, we're just students. Please just leave us alone so we can concentrate on our studies," Beck realized that Jade had done the right thing in going off on the crowd; That if he had stepped in, he would've humiliated and belittled Jade in front of all those new fans.

As Beck watched the limo depart with the three girls Tuesday afternoon, he came to one inescapable conclusion:

Jade was right.

His ego had been a major cause of their breakup. He absolutely loved the attention he received from other girls, and he thought he was always right in disciplining Jade when he thought she'd overstepped the bounds of proper decorum instead of simply talking things over with her. He hardly ever supported Jade in her time of need and went on with his life, letting her flounder alone.

Good God, was he becoming another Dale Squires? An egotistical bastard who sat around and did nothing, then took all the credit for everyone else's hard work? Or worse yet, would he become another Melinda Murray? Would he become a self-centered actor who no one liked; Who thought he knew everyone's lines and if they annoyed him at all he'd have them tossed off the set?

Beck realized he was going to have to do a lot of soul-searching over the next few days and weeks if he was ever going to have any chance at a proper relationship with someone.

Xxxxxx

Tori, Cat and Jade, all dressed in yoga pants, sports bras and bare feet, had just finished a run-through for the song " **Make It Shine** " after choreographing and divvying up the lines in the large dance studio at RPX when they heard a single person applaud from across the room. They looked over and saw Shawn Quincy clapping as he walked toward them and said, "That was marvelous, girls, but I have one little suggestion."

"What's your suggestion?" Tori begged as she and the other two went over to grab some water to rehydrate while talking to their boss.

"Well, since this is going to be your opening number and you'll all be naked, I think you all should sing the first few lines like Tori did in the Big Showcase to get into Hollywood Arts. I see Tori standing down stage center in pitch blackness, hands folded in front of her and meekly singing the first line as a spotlight irises open on her. Jade will be down stage right and sing the next line in the same manner, with a spot gradually opening on her, then Cat will finish downstage left in the same manner before the music picks up the tempo."

"I like that," Tori enthused. "Especially with the first line, ' _Here I am, feeling lost but now and then..._ '"

"Exactly," Shawn nodded in agreement.

"Let's try it," Cat squealed in delight as she raced over to her place with the other two girls taking their position and Shawn backing up to the other side of the room to observe.

Tori folded her hands in front of her and meekly looked down while the opening notes of the song started. She meekly sang, and slowly raised her head to look at the supposed audience, " _Here I am, once again feeling lost but now and then..._ "

Jade mimicked Tori's stance and actions as she sang, " _I breath it in and let it go..._ "

Cat finished in the exact same style as she sang, " _And you don't know where you are now, or what it would come to if only somebody could hear..._ "

All three harmonized the next part as Jade and Cat started to walk toward Tori and center stage, " _When you figure out how you're lost in the moment you disappear._ "

The tempo of the song picked up to its fast pace as they all sang, " _You don't have to be afraid to put your dream in action..._ "

Shawn Quincy cut them off as he stepped over to the girls and said, "That's exactly the way I think the song should start."

"Yeah, I like that," Cat enthused, bouncing on her heels in excitement.

Jade was all smiles as she nodded and said, "Yeah, that works." Her face soured as she changed the subject. "But what's this I hear about Miley Cyrus trying to steal our act last night at her concert?"

Mr. Quincy let out a huge laugh before answering, "Yes, she did. Miley was going to do her concert naked last night but got heckled by a few people who started calling her a copy cat; That she was trying to imitate you guys by being naked on stage like you were at the car lot last week and will be on Sunday. The rest of the audience picked up on the chant and she was booed off the stage. She disappeared for a few minutes before coming back out in her normal skimpy costume."

"Wow," Cat marveled. "I guess we already got a few loyal fans out there."

"Not really," Shawn chuckled. "You see, the guys who started the copy cat chant were actually my employees that I'd planted in the audience. I thought she'd try to do something like that since this is the first chance she'd had to perform in a state that allowed nudity, so I nipped it in the bud before it got out of hand. Now other artists won't try it either, fearing they'll lose their fans."

"Clever," Cat giggled in praise of her boss.

"Okay," Shawn called, clapping his hands once to get their full attention and end the brief break. "What's the next song in the line up?"

Xxxxxx

When the girls weren't in the dance studio choreographing their concert they were in the sound studio recording tracks for their albums. And if one or two of the girls weren't needed in either studio, they would be close by working on their homework.

All in all, Jade, Tori and Cat were exhausted when ten o'clock rolled around and it was time to head back to the school parking lot to gather their cars (and bike) and head for home.

Wednesday, Thursday and Friday were actually normal days for Jade, Cat and Tori at school. The news of their pending careers in the industry had faded fast and they were generally treated like any other student by the faculty and the rest of the student body, and the point was driven home when they weren't picked up by a limo at the end of the day. (Shawn wanted to treat them on Tuesday but didn't want to spoil them.) Because of that, they could focus on their schooling and hadn't fallen behind in their work, like they'd feared might happen with their after school concentration mainly focusing on the pending performance.

The five to six hours they'd spent at RPX Studios each afternoon/evening had paying off, too. Their four albums, three solo and one with all three girls singing duet or trio songs, were complete and had been rushed to the presses so they could be sold at the concert, and the choreography was nearly complete. They also were able to shoot two in-studio music videos that were quickly sent off to MTV, VH1 and the other music video-centric cable stations for airing.

Saturday morning found Tori, Jade and Cat polishing up their blocking and choreography and deciding on an encore number, if one was needed. None of the girls thought the Hollywood Bowl, with a capacity of only seventeen and a half thousand seats, would sell out because of the short amount of time there had been to sell tickets, basically only five days, but thought it would be wise to plan ahead for later tour venues.

By noon everything was ready so Shawn sent the three home to rest up for tomorrow. Cat, Tori and Jade were supposed to arrive at the Bowl by four o'clock to rehearse the entire show, do sound checks and spike the stage.** That way they could get used to being on the larger stage, one much larger than anything they were accustomed to at school, and rest up between rehearsal and the eight o'clock show.

Instead of going their separate ways and heading home, Cat suggested they all grab some lunch at Nozu, first.

As they walked in the door, Mrs. Lee almost ran over to them, wrapped an uncomfortable Jade in a hug and cooed, "Ah-ha, there are my favorite singing stars."

As the owner released the Goth girl and moved on to Tori, the half-Latina greeted the owner, "Hi, Mrs. Lee."

The woman then hugged the petite redhead and stated, "Since you are to sing at Hollywood Bowl, you must let me get picture for my Wall of Celebrities, and your meals will be half off."

"But Mrs. Lee," Cat said as she hugged the lady back. "Our show isn't 'til tomorrow. If you put our picture up before then, you might jinx it."

The restaurant owner led them over to a table and passed out menus as she said, "Oh yes. I forget about the superstitions artists have. I won't put up picture until Monday, then." As she waited for the three to decide what they wanted, she mentioned, "You know my daughter Daisy sings, too. Do you need an opening act?"

Jade, Tori and Cat exchanged anxious stares, remembering the young girl and her terrible singing voice from when Mrs. Lee had backed Jade's play, **Well Wishes**. Tori nervously laughed as she said, "No, no. We're good on that." She tactfully added, "Besides, we wouldn't want to be upstaged by our opening act during our debut performance. Would we?"

"Oh, that is so true," Mr. Lee lightly laughed, missing the obvious sarcasm of the statement. She took the girl's order and headed for the kitchen.

When Mrs. Lee was out of hearing range, Jade joked, "And we don't want to lose any of our audience from a terrible opening act before we even step on stage, either." That brought a snorting laugh from Tori and a giggle from Cat.

Xxxxxx

* Also known as the Tannoy in Great Britain. Tannoy is a company based in Scotland and the name is now used as a generic term for a public address system, like Kleenex is used for tissues. (I only mention this to please my British fans out there. You know who you are.)

** Spike: to mark a position on the floor with tape or chalk where the singer would start the number so the spotlights would be properly on them.


	9. Chapter 9

It's time for the concert and I have a note or two before you can start reading. You all should be familiar with the mentioned songs from the show so I'm not going to write out any of the lyrics except where they are needed. Also, there's **one F-bomb** dropped and I hope no one is offended by it.

Hope you enjoy.

Xxxxxx

Victorious N-I-S

Chapter 9

Xxxxxx

"Whoa," Cat Valentine marveled as she, Jade West and Tori Vega walked onto the stage of the Hollywood Bowl for the first time. It was just after four o'clock on Sunday and the three were going to run through their show a time or two to block out their moves and provide a sound check for the audio engineers working the show which was to start in four hours.

Tori gazed at the row upon row of seats climbing the gentle up-slope in front of her and said, "Now _that,_ is impressive."

Jade stopped and crossed her arms as they reached center stage and nonchalantly said, "Yeah, not bad. But the seating capacity is only seventeen thousand, five hundred. Just wait 'til we do a show in a larger venue. _Then_ tell me how impressed you are."

Tori playfully sassed back, "Well excuse me Miss Visually Unimpressed, but this is the first time I've been here. I mean I've seen pictures and read all about The Bowl, but to see it in person is a whole nother thing."

"Yeah, I guess you're right," Jade ceded. "Mom and I have come here a few times to enjoy the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra and, thinking back to the first time we came here, I did find it kinda wow-worthy."

Just then one of the tech crew approached them with three small black boxes, saying, "Here are your transceivers* and mics. We need a sound check."

Cat was a bit confused when she found an elastic strap attached to the box and curiously asked, "What's the strap for? Isn't the box supposed to attach to our belt or something?" (Cat, as well as Jade and Tori, had gotten used to dressing for school and was wearing her fancy pink dress with long lace sleeves and a pair of knee-hi, white platform-heeled boots. Tori had the sparkly pink shirt [less the black jacket] and floral skinny jeans with knee-hi black boots she once wore when Jade sang " **You Don't Know Me** " while coincidentally, Jade was also wearing what she'd wore during that evening.)

Jade smirked at her redhead friend and reminded her, "Don't you remember, Cat? We're not wearing a belt or _any_ clothes for our concert tonight, so this needs to be fastened around our arm."

"Ooooh, that's right," Cat giggled as she started to take off her clothes. "Then I think we should make this a _'dress'_ rehearsal."

Tori also started to strip and quipped, "Don't you mean an _'un-_ dress' rehearsal?"

The three laughed at Tori's bad joke while getting naked and securing the transceivers around their biceps. They started with the first song, making sure that one of the stage crew members spiked their starting position so the spotlight would be able to iris out on them at the beginning of the song. When the sound engineer said that they sounded good Jade, Cat and Tori continued on with the rest of the show to get a feel for the big stage and so the crew could watch to see if there would be any problems with any of the songs.

Fortunately, the rehearsal went off without a hitch. The audio engineer collected the transceivers, marking each with the girl's initial to make sure they had the same one for the show, then the three teens were allowed to retire to one of the dressing rooms to get something to eat and rest until the show started. They picked up their clothes, deciding to stay naked for the rest of the evening, as they made their way backstage.

Cat, Tori and Jade were surprised when, one hour before the show was to start, an MTV crew and reporter showed up with Shawn Quincy, seeking a naked interview. They took turns explaining the Nude-In-School Program and what they'd experienced while in it, including their after school job that led to their discovery.

The years of acting classes at Hollywood Arts paid off when the three feigned ignorance when asked about the Miley Cyrus incidence, saying that they hadn't heard about it (keeping Mr. Quincy's dealings with the matter a secret), but were both surprised and happy that some other performer hadn't tried it yet, and that they now had a unique niche in the music industry.

Shawn was extremely please with how the interview had gone and left the girls alone while he went to check on a few things.

Twenty minutes before the show was to begin, Cat was becoming extra hyper in anticipation, so Tori and Jade decided to burn off a little of their friend's excitement by walking around back stage until it was time to 'suit up' for the show.

As they meandered around, Tori notice a general murmur coming from the audience area and peeked around a curtain to check it out. She gasped in surprise and said, "Hey guys? You gotta see this."

"Oh wow," Cat marveled as she and Jade took a look and saw that the audience was already in place while more people filed in and either sat on the grassy area on either side of the seats or filled the aisles.

"You're kidding me," Jade huffed in disbelief. "I've never seen this place with so many people before."

Shawn sidled up to the teens and said, "Yes, we got a packed house."

"What's with all the camera crews?" Cat questioned, pointing out the three cameramen on stage, the two that were standing just in front of it and the three stationary cameras further out in the audience.

"Well," Shawn answered with a huge smile, "the tickets sold out almost immediately and there was a minor uproar by quite a few people who weren't able to buy tickets, so I decided to broadcast the concert on pay-per-view."

"We're gonna be televised?" Tori nervously asked.

"Yes, you are," Mr. Quincy laughed. "When last I checked, over a million people had already pre-ordered the show. But, that was a few days ago so that number has probably doubled or tripled since then."

"Over a million people?" Cat squealed in delight and started to jump and dance around in excitement.

"Cool," Jade deadpanned. (But her broadening smile told everyone that she was well pleased with the news.)

Tori, on the other hand, started to experience a bit of stage fright as she stuttered, "A-a-a million? I don't know if I can do this."

"It's time," the sound engineer said as he came over and helped the girls with their transceivers and ear pieces.

"You can do this, Vega," Jade prompted as both the stage and house lights dimmed and extinguished. She took one of Tori's arms and started to escort her on stage.

"It'll be easy. It's just like rehearsal," Cat enthused as she took the other arm and assisted.

The two girls positioned Tori down stage center before heading to their own marks.

Just like two years ago when she first sang in front of a live audience at the Big Showcase, Tori was one huge bundle of nerves. But also like two years ago, she started singing right on cue. And also like that time, the jitters completely vanished a few seconds into the number as the lyrics continued, first by Jade and then Cat.

Tori was unaware of a member of the audience running up to her after the song was over. But unlike two years ago, this person wasn't going to congratulate her on a great performance. Nobody took notice when he pushed his way through the crowd who were thoroughly enjoying the music. Only a few people saw him clamber up onto the raised stage. But everyone at the Hollywood Bowl witnessed the guy start to sprint toward Tori, wrap one arm around her torso and group a boob with the other hand. And everyone, especially the people at home watching on pay-per-view, heard him when he leaned in and said, "You're naked so that must means you wanna get fucked." (Tori's mic was still on so the sentence was broadcast both to the Bowl and televised audiences with complete clarity.)

Frightened once again, Tori squeaked, "Let go of me you pervert," and glanced around for help. She saw a few of the stagehands moving toward her but they were too far away to immediately help. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Jade, a scowl on her face, start toward her and suddenly flashed back to almost two weeks ago when she was molested next to her locker on the second day of The Program.

And she remembered Jade's advice.

Terror fled her emotions as anger flared and took over. She menacingly growled, "I said, let me go you perv!" and swiftly brought her knee up into his groin. A sympathetic, collective gasp and groan arose from the audience as he collapsed to the stage, clutching his family jewels.

But Tori wasn't done with the perpetrator just yet. She rounded on the guy, placed her arms akimbo and almost yelled, "Just because I'm naked doesn't mean I wanna have sex with anyone. Naked is natural, not lewd or crude. It's _only natural_. I'm a singer and an actress so I love to put myself out there; To show off. And showing my body without any clothes is only natural. I love being in the buff, letting the sun and wind caress my entire body, and _not_ worrying if my pants make my butt look too big."

By that time a couple of the stagehands and security personnel had arrived and swiftly overpowered the attacker and whisked him away. As that was happening, someone from the audience yelled out, "You tell him, Tori!" while another loudly called, "Nude is not lewd!"

That seemed to set the audience off. Cigarette lighters were lit and lifted high in support as the crowd picked up the chant, "Nude is not lewd!" while quite a few girls in the audience removed their clothes and loudly joined in.

Jade and Cat stopped and stood next to Tori as the guy was being manhandled on the stage. The Goth girl removed her earpiece so her voice wouldn't be picked up by the microphone and asked, "Are you okay?"

Tori took a deep, calming breath and reached up to cover her mic before answering, "Yeah, I'm good. I remembered your advice and that seemed to pull me out of my panic."

Cat glanced over her shoulder at the swiftly retreating stagehands and guards and, also removing her mic, wondered aloud, "You think he might be from Northridge, too?"

Jade let out a laugh and said, "Probably. Rex thinks all the girls there just want to get laid so the guys probably think the same way." They lightly laughed at the thought.

The three girls were suddenly broken from their little bonding moment as the crowds loudly cheered, bringing them back to the here and now. They looked out over the audience and broadly smiled as the replaced their mics.

Tori let out a light laugh and, holding her hand up with her thumb and index fingers only an inch apart, enthusiastically yelled, "Now that that _little_ problem is out of the way, let's get this party rolling again." She turned to her Goth friend and said, "Jade, I believe this next number is yours."

"Right," Jade affirmed as she took center stage while Cat and Tori moved upstage** to provide the backup.

Jade started to sing, " **You Don't Know Me** ", but when she came to the line, " _I'll push you back, harder_ ," she reached out like she was grabbing someone's shoulders and jerked her knee up, like she was striking some guy in the groin. That sent the crowd into a frenzy.

Cat had seen Jade's action and, giggling to beat the band, started to throw wild punches and kicks like she was preforming some kind of imprecise karate moves. She ended up on her butt when she tried a round-house back kick, still laughing up a storm, and wasn't able to get back to singing until the end of the song. Luckily, they had a great sound crew who deadened her mic so Cat's joy filled outbursts didn't interfere with Jade's solo.

Toward the end of the concert when Tori was singing the last of her solo numbers, Cat disappeared back stage for a few seconds before returning wearing her Jupiter Boots. The bouncy redhead sent another wave of over-the-top cheers from the audience. Fortunately, the sound engineer killed Cat's mic again so the springing 'Boings!' from the boots weren't heard over the sound system.

Unfortunately, Cat had a solo number herself after Tori's had ended, and found she couldn't sing very well while bouncing around. She quickly kicked off the boots, which were collected by a stagehand, and not missed a beat as she continued singing.

After nearly two dozen songs, solos duets and trios, (plus the encore number) the concert was finally over. The three teens said their good nights and thanked the audience before trotting off stage. As they reached the dressing room they'd used earlier, they met Shawn who enthused, "Great concert, girls. It was _fan_ tastic."

Cat, bouncing on her heels, eagerly piped in, "That was so much fun. When can we do it again?"

"Down Cat," Jade chided, if only a bit playfully. "I'm tired and just wanna sit down for a while."

"Me, too," Tori echoed. "Singing one or two songs at a Full Moon Jam or Kickback is one thing, but an hour and a half show is exhausting."

Shawn started to herd them out of the backstage area as he said, "Well, you need to meet your fans now, but you can sit down and rest while doing it."

"What do you mean?" Tori begged as the trio was led to a long table in the outdoor foyer with three folding chairs.

"Didn't I tell you? All my artists do an autograph session after a show."

"Oh, well let's not keep the fans waiting," Jade sarcastically said before she strode over while putting on a smile and took a seat, with Cat and Tori following. All three cracked open a bottled water each that was on the table before greeting their fans. For the most part, the signing went well. Almost all of the fan-girls who they met were naked, but behaved themselves. Of course there was the occasional fanatic who got a little too excited while meeting the rising stars up close and in person, but security quickly took care of them.

After a good half hour, the autograph session was over and the trio retired to the dressing room where they again met with Shawn. He said, "Now just to let you know, I'm still working on where and when your next concert will be, so you're free and clear for a few days."

As Cat gathered her clothes (and Jupiter Boots) and started to neatly fold them, she queried, "You mean we don't haveta work on new songs or anything?"

"No," Shawn laughed at the girl's eagerness. "But if you come up with any ideas for a music video, let me know. That's about the only thing we need a few more of, right now. We'll use the pay-per-view footage for a couple of them, but we can always use more."

"Kay-Kay."

"Okay, girls," Shawn said as he headed for the door, "the parking lot should be just about empty by now so you shouldn't have any problems heading home. Enjoy your time off."

"Thanks, Shawn," Tori replied as she scooped up her clothes and started to get dressed. She swiftly slipped on the pink shirt, floral jeans and boots then chimed, "Well, I'll see you all tomorrow."

"Yeah," Jade groaned as she bent over to pick up her clothes. "Tomorrow. It's back to the old school grind." Instead of getting dressed, she draped her shirt and skirt over her arm, slipped on her boots and headed for the door, calling, "Come on, Cat. I'm your ride home."

"Kay-Kay," Cat gleefully squealed as she slipped on her Jupiter Boots and noisily bounced out the door.

Xxxxxx

*1: Transceiver: transmitter/receiver. A wireless devise to transmit the singers voice without a mic cord and receive a clear audio signal in an ear bud attached to the mic so the singer can hear the music playing without any distortion or time lag.

*2: If you didn't know, most stages are ever so slightly tilted so the front of it, the part nearest to the audience, is slightly lower that the back. Hence, 'downstage' is closer to the audience than 'upstage'. Also, 'stage left' and 'stage right' are from a performer's point of view, not the audience's.


	10. Chapter 10

Here you go boys and squirrels, a brief but final chappy. And as always, I'm not collecting one red Mohétha (Russian for coin) for penning this awesome tale of high adventure... or boring piece of tripe, depending on your opinion. (And if you think this story _is_ boring, why are you wasting your time still reading?)

Xxxxxx

Victorious N-I-S

Chapter 10

Xxxxxx

It was a bright, glorious Monday morning at the Hollywood Arts High School for the Preforming Arts and there was quite a mob of fans outside the parking lot waiting for their three pop teen idols to arrive. Unfortunately for them, Tori had enough foresight to rent the Party Bus that morning and none of the fans could see in the well-tinted, reflective windows. (Dr. Rhapsody was elated that the teen singing stars had revived his song and decided not to charge them for the ride, especially since large royalty checks would soon be rolling in again.) The fans were disheartened when they saw the three girls exit said bus well past them near the building, but all their time cheering and yelling was justified when Cat, Tori and finally Jade decided to spend a few minutes before school started with their fans.

When the first bell rang, the trio extricated themselves from the crowd and made their way into the building. They'd barely entered the classroom when Sikowitz climbed through one of the windows, clapped his hands together and said, "Okay all you fine young animals, let's talk about the big news story from yesterday."

Robbie asked, "Do you mean Jade, Cat and Tori's big concert last night?"

"Noooo!" Sikowitz enthusiastically replied as he sat down on the step of the stage. "I'm talking about the almost fire that happened in my kitchen yesterday morning. You see, I was making a sandwich in my toaster oven and it started to burn, causing a lot of smoke." He sadly shook his head and added, _"Not_ a pleasant smell... Especially since I had already spread tuna salad on the bread."

Rex chimed in as Robbie motioned the puppet's arm toward Jade, Cat and Tori, "Well, I'd rather talk about the naked concert these fine young ladies put on last night."

"Alright," the eccentric teacher calmly intoned as he pulled a coconut from behind his back and sipped at the straw in it. He suddenly jumped to his feet and yelled, "Good Gandhi!"

"What's wrong," Tori asked in concern. "Did your coconut milk go bad?"

Sikowitz took a long contemplative draw on the straw and smacked his lips a few times, really tasting the nut juice while thinking it over, before saying, "No, that's not it."

Ten, fifteen then twenty seconds past before Rex angrily begged, "Then what got your panties all in a twist?"

"Oh," Sikowitz startled as if he'd just remembered, which he did. "I didn't know you girls sang this weekend. What happened? Did I miss a Kickback or Full Moon Jam or something?"

Tori let out an exasperated huff and answered, "No, Jade, Cat and I sang at the Hollywood Bowl last night after we signed with RPX Records last Monday. Don't you remember? It was the talk of the whole school after we spent the prior week in The Program." She pointed over to one of the Shruggers who was sitting there totally naked, obviously taking her turn in the nude-in-school program. The blonde girl meekly waved at Tori for the recognition.

"Oh yes," the 'adult' answered as he glanced around the room at his students. "Now I remember. Say, where's Beck?"

Tori leaned over to Jade who was sitting next to her and whispered, "Something really must be wrong with his coconut milk today. He's usually not this forgetful or random."

Jade hushed back with a glint of sass, "Maybe he got infected with a bit of Cat?" That brought a snort from the svelte teen when she tried to suppress her laugh.

André spoke up, answering his teacher's question, "Um, Beck told me last Friday that he was maybe gonna quit Hollywood Arts; That he was thinking about giving up acting and find something else to do."

"Well, that's unfortunate," Sikowitz said as he stepped back onto the stage while taking another sip from his ever present coconut. He turned back to the students and continued, "But that just goes to show that all of you _won't_ realize your dreams of becoming actors and actresses. It's a tough industry to get recognized in and you shouldn't..."

Jade tuned him out at that point, digging her PearPhone out of her pocket and swiftly called up a phone number. She was totally disappointed when the call was not completed. The mechanical announcement stated that the call could not go through and that the phone was either turned off or disconnected.

Xxxxxx

Still not receiving an answer, Jade pounded on the RV trailer door a fourth time and waited. And waited. And waited. She had already tried to open the door but found the RV locked, something that normally wouldn't happen if Beck was inside, so Jade walked over to the front door of the house. She knew her ex-boyfriend rarely entered his parent abode so she knew it was a long shot, but she was beyond curious in finding out just what was going on with Beck.

Jade was just reaching for the doorbell when the door opened and a woman stepped out, greeting, "Hello, Jade."

"Hi Mrs. Oliver," the Goth girl meekly replied, being caught off guard. "Um, in Beck in? Can I speak with him?"

"I'm sorry, dear," the woman of the house apologized as she reached into the pocket of her dress and pulled out an envelop. She offered it to Jade, saying, "Beck left town on Saturday, but he said to give you this if you ever stopped by. He said it should explain everything."

"Left?" Jade questioned as she accepted and stared at the business sized envelop. "Left for where?"

Mrs. Oliver let out a heavy sigh as she replied, "He moved back to Canada to live with my brother and his family." She gently laid her hand on Jade's hand holding the envelop and finished, "It's all explained in here."

"Oh. Okay," Jade said as she stepped back. "Well, thank you."

She turned to leave but stopped and turned back when Becks mother sadly called out, "Congratulations on your new career. You deserve it. You have a beautiful voice."

"Thanks," Jade muttered with a smile. Not knowing what else to say, she simply waved the envelop and said, "Bye," before quickly turning and walking to her car parked out on the street.

As she stepped into the driver's seat, Cat anxiously asked, "Did you talk to him? You weren't gone very long."

Jade settled in her seat, strapping the seat belt snugly as she casually tossed the envelop onto the dashboard and replied, "No, his mom said Beck moved back to Canada over the weekend."

Cat immediately questioned, "Why would he do that?"

Jade checked for traffic then stared straight ahead after she pulled away from the curb and stoically answered, "I don't know. He supposedly sez why in the letter he left me." She pointed to said envelop on the dash.

"Well... What did the letter say?"

"I don't know. I didn't open it."

"But..."

Jade suddenly pulled over to the curb and stopped the car, preventing her friend from asking the obvious question. She put the gearshift in park before turning to Cat and, in slight anger, said, "Look. If Beck is too petty or chicken to say it to my face, I don't wanna know. It's totally inconsiderate of him to simply go off and leave without at least talking to me. For Gawd sake. We were together for almost three years and he doesn't have the decency to tell me in person? I just..."

Tears were welling in the Goth girl's eyes but she held them in by sheer will as she sat up straight and faced forward again in her seat, gripping the steering wheel tightly.

Quickly regaining control over her emotions, Jade put the gearshift in drive and pulled back into traffic. Silence ruled over the interior of the car but Cat couldn't sit still. She continually squirmed in her seat and almost reached out a few time to snatch the letter from the dash, but stopped herself each time. She knew Jade would get mad if she did.

Finally, after five minutes of silence, Jade, not drawing her attention from her driving, firmly said, "No."

"But I gotta know," Cat loudly squealed in frustration.

"No."

"But..."

"No!"

"Phooey," Cat softly huffed and slouched back in her seat, pouting.

Jade let out an exasperated breath and explained, "If Beck couldn't man-up and explain it to us in person, then we don't _need_ to know." She took a calming breath, then said, "Look. I know your curious, Cat..."

"Curious Cat," the petite redhead softly giggled at the moniker.

"...But _I_ don't want to know," Jade finished.

They sat in silence for a few more minutes. Cat sat ramrod straight with her knuckles ash white, clutching the seat. Jade, finally realizing that her friend was in agony over the situation, let out a tired breath and relented, "Go ahead."

The redhead immediately sprang into action, leaned forward and snatched the envelop from the dash. She had the end ripped off and letter out before she fell back into her seat. A wan smile graced her face as she scanned the letter before she let out a light giggle, sat back and played with a strand of her hair.

"Well?" Jade impatiently asked.

"I thought you didn't wanna know."

Jade practically exploded, "Just tell me!"

Cat quietly huffed, "And they call _me_ bi-polar," before she looked at the letter again and answered out loud. "Well, Beck sez he's totally confused with everything that's going on, and he's taking the rest of the school year off to get his head together. He told Helen that he got a part in a play up in Canada, but will hopefully be back next year to finish school and graduate after the play's run ends."

"Is that all?"

Cat scanned the letter again and answered, "Yeah, except that he's actually gonna help his uncle out with his tourism business, taking people out hunting and fishing." She let the letter drop into her lap as she turned to her friend and said, "I don't get it. What's Beck confused about?"

A wry smile appeared as Jade explained, "Beck was always so sure that _he'd_ be the first of our group to make it big in the industry, especially after he got that bit part in **Miss Fire**. But his ego musta took a _huge_ hit when we signed our contracts with Shawn. He just couldn't cope."

"Oh, okay," Cat nonchalantly accepted with a shrug before she changed topics. "So, what do you wanna do tonight?"

A wicked smile arose on the Goth's face as she replied, "I thought we could pick Tori up and head over to Karaoke Dokie to rub our new contracts and successful concert in Tara and Haley's faces."

"Oooooh, sounds like fun!"

Xxxxxx

Author's Note: And so the story ends. Cat, Jade and Tori's careers are off to a good start after spending a week in the Nude-In-School Program and all is right with the world.

Well, not everything is okay. Beck is having a major personality crisis and there's the civil war happening in Sri Lanka, but I can't clear every little thing up in ten measly chapters. Well, actually I could, but that's another story in a different genre.(Come to think about it, I did clean up the conflict in Sri Lanka in my KP story, **Another Scenario**.)

I hope you found this mildly amusing, but don't expect a sequel. I'll leave that up to the three girls to figure out and write their autobiographies when they turn forty and retire to a life of ease and luxury. You can read all about their futures when those come out in a score of years.

Anywho...

Read On and Write On,

pbow


End file.
